Guiding Mediterranean MPAs through the climate change era: Building resilience and adaptation
The Mediterranean Sea climate will undergo rapid changes over the next decades.  Direct evidence of climate change (CC) is already being observed at Mediterranean coast, including marine protected areas (MPAs). The need for building resilience in both social and ecological aspects of MPAs, through taking on adaptive management thus becomes an essential element for mitigating against and adjusting to the rapid changes to maintain and protect healthy ecosystems. However, CC is not explicit incorporated in most management plans and information to assist MPA decision making is both limited and fragmented.The goals of the MPA-Adapt are to develop collaborative and site-specific adaptation plans for the MPAs that enhance resilience to CC impacts. This will be achieved by building capacity for effective management, assessing risks- and exploring potential actions and priorities needed to ensure the adaptability and the resilience of biodiversity and the local communities. It also aims to incorporate CC vulnerability assessments and nature-based adaptation planning into their existing management framework, and provide guidance to MPA managers and local stakeholders to implement and test climate-change approaches. This project is a first of its kind for the marine and coastal Mediterranean environment and will also foster networks by improving the dialogue and coordination between MPA managers and scientists in order to create the first line of Mediterranean MPA sentinel sites.