Background on the Barcelona Convention

Since 1975, the 21 countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and the European Community teamed up through the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) to protect their shared environment. They are parties to the "Barcelona Convention" that is the only legal instrument dealing exclusively with the protection of the Mediterranean Sea.

The usually known as "Barcelona System" is composed by 6 Protocols, related to the convention, that are legally binding instruments, each tackling a specific aspect of environmental protection. The Conservation of the Biological Diversity falls since 1995 within the mandate of the "Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity" protocol that replaces the Specially Protected Areas protocol.

The supreme governing body of the "Barcelona System" is the meeting of the contracting parties, that take place every two years, but for each protocol, a preparatory meeting of the national focal points takes place a few months before to review the progress of activities, prepare recommendations, work programme and budget, that are submitted to the contracting parties for final approval.

For each protocol, official representatives (Focal Points) of the contracting parties meet every two years to review the progress of activities, prepare recommendations, work programme and budget, that are submitted to the contracting parties for final approval.