Currently, the protected areas in the Mediterranean are mostly coastal areas concentrated in the northern part of the sea, leaving many critically important species and habitats in the Mediterranean unprotected.

First step
The 30 jewels, chosen by marine scientists, are part of the organisation’s MedNet proposal, which provides a roadmap towards creating a network of 100 Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in the Mediterranean.
“The protection of these 30 Mediterranean jewels would be the first step towards an effective protection of this sea, which is currently lacking. The selection of the enclaves considered the geographical equilibrium along the basin, the inclusion of high seas sites and the presence of ecologically interesting species, among other factors”, explains Xavier Pastor, Executive Director for Oceana Europe.
“Oceana is asking national and regional entities to create marine protected areas and curb biodiversity loss”.

4% protected
Despite being considered one of the planet’s most important areas for marine biodiversity, the Mediterranean (2,500,000km2) is practically in the same state as the rest of the world’s seas and currently only 4% of its area is protected.

Source: Oceana newsrelease

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