Within the framework of the implementation of the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean, a Protocol was prepared on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and signed by 14 of the Parties in January 2008. Now that the ratification process is underway, the French Ministry for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning is organising a conference entitled “The management of coastal zones in the Mediterranean: from local to regional, how to stop the loss of biodiversity?”.

Gathering government representatives, local authorities, managers, field players and NGOs from countries involved in the Union for the Mediterranean, the seminar will strive to present guidelines for the operational implementation of the protocol, on the basis of experiences of integrated management. It will enable participants to seek concrete solutions to overcome obstacles, and ultimately to propose action guidelines aiming at the development of sustainable and genuinely integrated initiatives to stop the loss of Mediterranean biodiversity.

Raphaël Billé and Julien Rochette will represent IDDRI, which has prepared the framework documents for the workshops on “Sustainable Tourism” and “ICZM in the face of Climate Change”.