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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
The Secretariats of the RAMOGE and Pelagos Agreements, in the presence of HSH
Prince Albert II of Monaco, officially concluded a Memorandum of Understanding that
aims to establish the principles of active cooperation between the two Agreements:
to facilitate the exchange and sharing of information and implement joint activities
to preserve marine mammals and their habitats. The first joint initiative will involve
hosting a workshop in autumn 2024 to raise awareness of marine litter, a problem that
poses a major threat to biodiversity.

WHAT RESTORATION STRATEGY On this site, as well as the Prado site off Marseille,
SHOULD BE ADOPTED? one experiment took advantage of the mass
flowering of the Posidonia seagrass meadows (which
Experts from the three countries presented the occurs about every 10 years) in 2022, and initiated a
conservation and restoration initiatives carried out restoration project using 18,000 seeds collected from
within the Agreement’s jurisdiction. “What determines the shore. “While the various restoration methods look
that restoration efforts will be successful? Is it down promising, preserving and protecting the meadow
to successful transplantation or actually restoring remains the priority”, said Gérard Pergent, Professor
the ecosystem and the functions and services it Emeritus at the University of Corsica Pasquale Paoli.
provides?” asked marine ecologist Christine Pergent-
Martini, Lecturer at the University of Corsica Pasquale
Paoli. She continued: “We are still at the R&D stage
of this question. Restoration is a long-term activity; IN
it is costly and has to be part of a holistic approach, FIGURES
including from a climate change perspective”.
Actions to promote Posidonia preservation were also ■ The Mediterranean boasts 2 million hectares of Posidonia
discussed, such as publishing restoration guides and seagrass meadows in 16 countries in the basin. Only 40%
forming an alliance to involve businesses in seagrass of those meadows are located in marine protected areas
conservation efforts. (source: WWF),
A number of international research teams are trying
out various restoration procedures in the Gulf of ■ Nonetheless, they have shrunk by between 10 and 30%
Sant’Amanza in Corsica in a bid to compensate for during the last 100 years (source: Luca Telesca et al, ‘Seagrass
the loss of 17 hectares of seagrass meadows. They meadows (Posidonia oceanica) distribution and trajectories of
are trialling several ways of encouraging the marine change’, Scientific Reports (5, 2015)),
plant to return, including propagation of cuttings
using different fixing methods and types of support, ■ Posidonia seagrass meadows cover 20 to 50% of the coastal
and other planting techniques, to see which is the seabed and are home to more than 400 marine species,
most effective. providing multiple marine ecosystem services.