SPA/RAC is organising a workshop for the validation of the monitoring programme on biodiversity in Morocco, on 4 July 2017 in Rabat

The Ecosystem Approach is a strategy for an integrated management for land, water and biological resources which aim to foster the conservation and sustainable use of resources to ensure equitable exploitation, as stipulated in the Biological Diversity Convention.

The adoption of the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment programme (IMAP) by the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention (COP 19 decision IG.22/7) is one of the key elements of the implementation of this integrated and multidisciplinary approach (EcAp) in the Mediterranean.

SPA/RAC is actively contributing to the implementation of the IMAP, particularly its biodiversity and non-indigenous species (NIS) components. The centre supports Southern Mediterranean Contracting Parties to develop their monitoring programmes on biodiversity in line with the IMAP recommendations.

In this context, SPA/RAC is organising a workshop in Tunis for the validation of the monitoring programme on biodiversity in Morocco, on 4 July 2017 in Rabat.

Different stakeholders, including experts and scientists, involved in the monitoring of the biodiversity, non-indigenous species (NIS) and fisheries take part to these workshops, with the main aim to:

• discuss a first draft of the national monitoring programme on biodiversity;
• discuss and validate a list of habitats and species to be considered in the short, medium and long term, based on a reference list;
• select at least two monitoring sites, one in a low pressure area (i.e. Marine Protected Area / Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI)), and one in a high pressure area linked to human activities.