Support MPAs effectiveness through strong and connected networks in the Mediterranean
Despite the increase of Marine Protected Area (MPAs) coverage in the Mediterranean, the objective of maintaining marine biodiversity is far from being met. MPAs are facing several pressures and still lack human capacity, skills and financial resources. Through strong, active and connected networks of MPA managers, the MPA NETWORKS project will help achieve effectively managed MPAs by providing sustainable solutions to challenges requiring a supra-MPA approach: management effectiveness, small scale fisheries management, mobile species conservation and sustainable financing. The project will support testing and adaptation of tools and recommendations from previous projects to improve marine conservation on selected pilot sites and facilitate the transfer of lessons learnt and best practices to the MPA community around the Mediterranean. Networks of MPA managers will be developed and reinforced at national, supra-national and Mediterranean levels, and a regular thematic capacity building programme will be set-up. Networking activities will facilitate exchanges between MPA managers and other actors, capitalisation of good practices and increased knowledge. This approach will be amplified by connecting networks. Through joined forces of networks and a dynamic bottom-up approach linking experience on the ground and decision-making processes, MPA voices will be coordinated and joined recommendations will support policy-making at international, European, and national level.