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© SMILO

78 | TRANSITION AND SOLUTIONS

THE ISLANDS JOIN THE INITIATIVE
Launch of the CapiMed-

Island project

With the support of BeMed, the small Mediterranean islands
are joining forces against plastic pollution.

e

The string of Croatian and Albanian islands, Malta, During this kick-off meeting, each project was fully
Djerba, Tavolara, Corsica or the Balearic Islands... the aligned with the process to capitalise on knowledge,
small Mediterranean islands are refuges for biodiver- and consolidated by synergies between initiatives
sity and mini-paradises overrun by visitors. They all in a region with significant ecological issues. In this
suffer the same problem: plastic pollution. The Ca- regard, the Med IUCN, the Interreg Med biodiversity
piMed-Island project - launched on 25 March during protection community and the Clean Blue Alliance
Monaco Ocean Week - aims to bring them together shared their insight on how to obtain an effective im-
to tackle this threat. Led by SCP/RAC and SMILO, pact through projects to prevent plastic pollution in
the webinar got the main stakeholders involved with the islands.
the five winners of the call for projects in the Mediter-
ranean islands, supported by BeMed in 2020. The small Mediterranean islands could become sym-
bols of collective awareness of the need to protect
A review of different island initiatives was presented these fragile places, small mini-continents which are
in line with the consortium dear to CapiMed-Island, a focal point of all the issues and expectations of Me-
establishing synergies with other similar regional ini- diterranean protection.
tiatives. Efforts against plastic pollution risk having a
limited impact if they remain isolated and sporadic, or
if there is a lack of human resources and knowledge
from local stakeholders. As a result, this network
aims to address the fragmented nature of regions by ■ 200 small islands
pooling and streamlining initiatives. It is about stan- IN in the Mediterranean,
with around 10,000 islets
ding together against plastic, and giving islands more
influence in regional programmes and policies. Two FIGURES ■ 4% of the Mediterranean’s
lines of action which shape the initiative. surface area
(Source: Conservatoire
du littoral)