GEF MedPartnership and ClimVar

MedPartnership (2010 - 2016)

The Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean Sea Large Marine Ecosystem - MedPartnership, was a collective effort of leading environmental institutions and organisations to address, together with Mediterranean countries, the main environmental challenges that Mediterranean marine and coastal ecosystems face. It was carried out in Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Montenegro, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. The project was led by the UNEP/MAP and financially supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other donors (European Commission, participating countries, etc.). The main objectives of the MedPartnership were to assist countries in the implementation of the two previously agreed Strategic Action Programmes (SAPs): SAP-MED (aimed to reduce land-based sources of marine pollution) and SAP-BIO (aimed to protect biodiversity, living resources and their habitats) and National Action Plans (NAPs); and of the ICZM Protocol. The MedPartnership resulted in 78 demonstration projects, the replication of which will maximize impact and ensure the sustainability of the project beyond its lifespan.

PAP/RAC activities in MedPartnership

PAP/RAC activities aimed to facilitate strengthening of legal, institutional and policy framework for ICZM of Mediterranean countries. In order to assist the harmonization of the national legal and institutional framework with the ICZM Protocol, PAP/RAC used an interpretation of legal aspects of the ICZM in the Mediterranean, supported by several national case studies and delivered a regional workshop for all project countries.  

Through MedPartnership project PAP/RAC provided assistance to countries in introducing and strengthening the use of the ICZM methodology, practices and tools, through capacity building and implementation of replicable demonstration actions. Two methodological outputs were drafted and tested during this project: Integrated Methodological Framework (IMF) for coastal, river basin and aquifers management (in partnership with UNESCO-IHP and GWP-Med); and the Guidelines for the Preparation of the National ICZM Strategies required by the ICZM Protocol.

As for the demonstration activities, PAP/RAC led the preparion of national ICZM Strategies for Algeria, Croatia and Montenegro. In addition, PAP/RAC led the preparation of the coastal plan in Reghaia (Algeria) and of the coastal plan with specific focus on climate variability and change in Šibenik-Knin County (Croatia). Within the IMF partnership PAP/RAC tested the methodology and developed the Integrated Resource Management Plan (IRMP) for Buna/Bojana (the transboundary area of Albania and Montenegro).