MEDPAN - Réseau de gestionnaires d'aires marines protégées de Méditerranée
Protected marine areas on the Mediterranean are tools for regional development and land planning. They face the same problems but to differing degrees: conflicts with local populations, difficulties with setting up management plans, sustainable management of tourism, the need to enhance their roles as tools for regional development, integrated management of coastal areas, anthropogenic pressure on the environment, etc. Local populations, users, political decision-makers and local administrations are often insufficiently aware of the role of protected marine areas as tools for regional development. Overall objective / Objectif général The main objective of the network is to facilitate cooperation between protected marine areas at the European and interregional levels and with third countries in the Mediterranean basin and, on the basis of exchanges, to propose tools to make the management of such territories more efficient. Expected results / Résultats attendus The results expected are as follows: sharing of information and experiences, the transfer of best practices; shared development of management tools; development of skills amongst participants; local awareness amongst institutions, elected representatives and citizens; launch of the MedPAN network of managers of protected marine areas in the Mediterranean. The impacts expected are as follows: improved efficiency of the protected marine areas, and the policies relating to them, as regional development tools; a contribution to sustainable development, to land planning, to environmental protection, to the promotion of sustainable tourism and to the creation of jobs in the regions participating in the project.