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Why has M2PA opened up to civil society? What budget do the Mediterranean MPAs
Since the origins of M2PA, non-governmental orga- have now? What share do these Funds represent?
nisations have worked alongside the three founding There are huge differences between the funding of
States. The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation is a MPAs on the North and South sides of the Medi-
founding member. The MedPAN network of Mediter- terranean. What does a national marine park on the
ranean MPA managers is a pillar of the initiative, and north side with many staff and an annual budget of
its president is one of M2PA board members. IUCN several million euros have in common with a small
Mediterranean and WWF Mediterranean, to name a protected area on the south side without any ope-
few, are also members of M2PA. The Oceanographic rating budget, where the managers don’t have any
Institute of Monaco is the latest member. The M2PA equipment or fuel for sea patrols, scientists do not
initiative is therefore more strongly based in environ- have the resources to assess the condition of ecosys-
mental networks mobilised to protect the Mediter- tems, and public trips are not provided? M2PA wants
ranean. to support the second category initially. This is why
projects have been developed in Tunisia, Morocco
Cooperation is also key with non-governmental and Albania. It’s still early days.
players in regions where M2PA operates. This coo-
peration is one of its keys to success. To ensure ef-
fective support of sustainable MPA management, it is What are the next steps in terms of sustainable
essential to work as close as possible to the field and funding of Mediterranean MPAs?
involve local communities. These communities have We are continuing to make progress on several fronts.
implemented citizen initiatives to protect the Mediter- In financial terms, mobilisation of resources remains
ranean, whether by specifically participating in MPA a priority. After the GEF and FFEM, other private and
management or by raising public awareness of the public donors will be approached to provide a capital
importance of respecting the environment. Through contribution and reach our co-funding objectives. In
projects in collaboration with national authorities, operational terms, four to eight new funding agree-
M2PA provides support to dynamic NGOs which are ments should be concluded to support MPAs during
involved in nature conservation work. the 2018-2019 period. A range of potential projects is
in progress in Morocco and Tunisia, but also in Alba-
Proof of this is the statement given at the MOW by the nia and elsewhere in the western part of the Mediter-
president of the Tunisian NGO “Notre Grand Bleu”, a ranean. In methodological terms, the contributions by
key stakeholder in our partnership with the Agency GEF and FFEM will be partially used to reinforce envi-
for Coastal Protection and Development (APAL) for ronmental fund structuring, drill down on its priorities
management of the Kuriat islands marine protected and develop investment and fundraising strategies.
area. Since the summer of 2017, the initiative has gathe-
red pace thanks to the arrival of a permanent coordi-
nator, Romain Renoux, who will soon be supported
What progress does the partnership agreement by another employee for administration and financial
with the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco matters.
signed in 2018 represent?
Very early in the development of M2PA, private do- We are looking forward to 2020. The IUCN world na-
nors made contributions: the Leonardo DiCaprio ture conference will meet this year in Marseille several
Foundation, with a contribution of hundreds of thou- months before the important COP15 regarding the
sands of dollars; but also Basel Zoo and the Oceano- agreement on biological diversity in China, and the
graphic Institute of Monaco, with both agreeing to environment in the Mediterranean will be under the
pay M2PA a percentage of their entrance tickets, spotlight. I hope that M2PA will have visible success
so a few cents per ticket - but with a cumulative va- to be recognised as part of the “Solution Agenda” for
lue of several tens of thousands of euros per year. biodiversity. Protecting our planet is tomorrow’s great
In terms of the agreement which we signed in April, challenge, and M2PA will do its part to help.
the Oceanographic Institute coordinates a network of
partner institutions, mainly zoos and aquariums plan-
ning to become contributors or involved in awareness
actions regarding protection of the Mediterranean.
With the support of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco,
the Oceanographic Institute met with representatives
from these zoos and aquariums during MOW 2018.