Romani

Marie

The MedPAN network brings together the managers of Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and supports them in their management activities. Its mission is to promote, through a partnership approach, the sustainability and operation of a network of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean which are ecologically representative, connected and effectively managed to help reduce the current rate of marine biodiversity loss.

The MedPAN network has currently 65 member organizations and 41 official partners from 8 European countries (France, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Cyprus, Malta) and 10 Mediterranean non-European countries (Albania, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Montenegro, Monaco). These countries represent 96% of the total Mediterranean coastline perimeter.  Together they are responsible for the management of more than 110 marine protected areas (national parks, marine parks and reserves, Natura 2000 marine sites, regional parks, and many more designations) across the Mediterranean, representing more than 63% of the total of Mediterranean MPAs effectively managed.

The network exists since the 90s. It is run since 2008 by the MedPAN organization, a permanent and independent non-governmental structure, established, at the request from MPA managers, under the French-law, with dedicated funds. The MedPAN Board of Directors is made of 13 organizations from 6 different European countries and 2 non-European Mediterranean countries.

To achieve its mission, MedPAN has developed, through a partnership approach, 3 main strategic axes:

1. Be a network for knowledge, information, anticipation and synthesis,

2. Support networking, exchanges between its members and their capacity to effectively manage their MPAs in link with the other players in their territories,

3. Reinforce the sustainability, prominence, governance and resources of the MedPAN network.