MED Info (December 1999)

SPECIAL EDITION: Malta, october 1999.

 

The Fish Manifesto: "Life for the Mediterranean"

 

 

 

XI MEETING OF THE UNEP-MAP AND MED Forum

The biannual meeting of the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention was held in Malta to approve the 2000-2001 activity programme and its budget, and to revise other activities of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), including those of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD). MED Forum, Mediterranean NGO Network for Ecology and sustainable Development, conducted a series of parallel activities during the official conference, which demonstrated the representative nature of the Network as a proficient spokesman for national NGOs in the Mediterranean basin. The results of the official meeting were rather meagre, both as regards achievements in the application of the Mediterranean Action Plan and its legal substance, and in proposals to achieve it in the near future. The MED Forum network emerged strengthened, thanks both to its active presence during the conference and the body of proposals it has been working on in the form of its Declarations and the contents of the MED Forum 2000 Agenda.

Malta was the setting for a series of Mediterranean activities for one week in October. The Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Conventions, Mediterranean countries plus the European Union, convened the XI Meeting in Malta for 27-30 October 1999. This produced a series of activities carried out before and during the official conference. MED Forum and other bodies organised various initiatives in the course of the "Maltese Mediterranean week".

 

  1. The Mediterranean NGO Meeting in Malta

A meeting of Mediterranean NGOs was held on 24 and 25, convened by MED Forum and MIO, with the collaboration of Maltese NGOs, members of MED Forum, Eco Malta and Nature Trust. The meeting was organised under the slogan "Mediterranean NGOs for the ratification of the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols". It was attended by 35 people from Mediterranean institutes and NGOs, of which 23 were MED Forum member NGOs. The opening was attended by the Maltese Minister for the Environment, Mr. Francis ZAMMIT DIMECH, and the closing by the Assistant Co-ordinator of the MAP, Mr. Arab HOBALLAH. In the course of the meeting, several debates were organised, with a broad-based participation which served as a basis for the approval of a joint position to be presented at the XI Meeting of the MAP, which opened on 27 October.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STATEMENT OF MEDITERRANEAN NGO NETWORKS

TO THE ELEVENTH ORDINARY MEETING OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES

OF THE BARCELONA CONVENTION

(Malta, 27th-30th October, 1999)

Ģ Bring the Convention into force now! ģ

The NGOs meeting in Malta on 24th and 25th October, on the initiative of MED Forum (Mediterranean NGO Network for Ecology and Sustainable Development) and MIO-ECSDE (Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development), representing NGOs from all the Contracting Parties, adopted the following statement:

1. WE REAFFIRM our strong support for the Barcelona Convention and thereby express our deep disappointment at the slow pace of ratification of the amended Convention and its Protocols by the vast majority of the Contracting Parties.

WE URGE, therefore, the completion of the ratification process by June 5th 2000, being the 25th Anniversary of the Convention and the 5th Anniversary of its amendment.

2. WE URGE that, in order to increase the visibility of the Convention amongst authorities and the public at large, an effective UNEP-MAP communications strategy be adopted, which must include a key role for NGOs.

3. The proposed 2000/2001 programme and budget must involve full civil society participation in its application at regional and national level; WE URGE Contracting Parties to allocate sufficient financial and institutional means to ensure its full and timely implementation.

4. WE URGE the Contracting Parties to proceed to the immediate implementation of the commitments under the Strategic Action Programme to combat pollution by land-based sources, approved in Tunis in 1997.

5. WE URGE similar action so as to establish the list of Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance, at least 100 by 2002, and to make available the funds for their establishment and management, particularly for the non-EU Mediterranean countries.

6. WE URGE that the work of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD), as a model for civil society participation, be fully reflected in the decisions of the Contracting Parties within the framework of the Barcelona Convention, and, whenever relevant, in other regional fora. WE RECOMMEND that similar participatory processes be introduced and/or improved at national, regional and local level.

7. WE URGE the Contracting Parties to take all necessary actions so that the provisions of the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols are fully taken into account in all procedures and agreements, including Euromediterranean ones, mainly regarding the establishment of Mediterranean Free Trade Zone (MFTZ). WE RECOMMEND the undertaking of sustainability impact studies of the MFTZ, their full dissemination, debate and effective reflection throughout the Euromediterranean process.

This Declaration of Mediterranean NGOs was presented at the plenary meeting of the conference by Zohir SEKKAL, President of MED Forum, and introduced by Michael SCHOULLOS, the President of MIO

2. Campaign to ratify the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols

The Fish Manifesto: "Life for the Mediterranean"

MED Forum conducted an active campaign to reach the Malta meeting with as many ratifications as possible to the modifications of the Convention and its Protocols. The public-opinion campaign, in the form of the special publication entitled "Protect the Mediterranean, YES!, ... but... Ratify the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols NOW!", has been very effective (it was published in French, Spanish, English and Arabic). Letters have been sent to all the Foreign Affairs Ministers and Ministers for the Environment of all Mediterranean countries and the European Union, as well as to their parliaments. For the opening day of the conference, the morning of 27 October, MED Forum began a campaign which consisted of presenting the figure of a fish, painted by artists from Barcelona, with the slogan "Life for the Mediterranean. Ratify the Barcelona Convention. Now! MED Forum". A manifesto was handed out to the people who gathered in front of the figure, as well as to the representatives of countries attending the official conference. This action caused a big impression on the public and media present.

M A N I F E S TO:

"LIFE FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN"

RATIFY THE BARCELONA CONVENTION AND ITS PROTOCOLS. NOW!"

The Mediterranean is sick because of the high quantity of pollutants dumped into it from its coastline. The cause includes: the more than 140 million inhabitants that populate this sea, the almost 200 million tourists that visit it, the irresponsible industries that discharge the non treated residues, the ships that clean their bilge in the sea and the depletion of the natural resources, that all contribute to worsening the environment and to destroying life in the Mediterranean.

The Mediterranean is not dead, but sick. A dead person is buried, while a sick one must be cured. So, the Mediterranean needs quite a cure. The Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean and the United Nations Action Plan approved in 1975 and modified in 1995, are a good medicine to help it recover. The high irresponsibility of almost all the States and the other Contracting Parts that have signed the Barcelona Convention and the Protocols, is that, after diagnosing and planning to heal the Mediterranean, they refuse to sign the prescriptions and to reserve the necessary funds to buy the medicines.

The Mediterranean is sick and it will continue being sick, while the States do not fulfil their own commitment and do not dedicate the necessary economic and human resources to recuperate and protect this big lake full of activity. This mare nostrum is pleading to all the people living around it for so many years, to act quickly. Otherwise, we could forever lose one of the best places to live in the world: the weather is pleasant here, there is a very rich historical and cultural patrimony and the environment has a great diversity and landscapes are very beautiful.

The modification of the Barcelona Convention and the annexed Protocols, were signed more than four years ago and they still have not been ratified by a minimum of 6 members in order to come into force. As there is just one State (Tunisia) that has ratified all the documents, it still lacks FIVE States so that all the Protocols could come into force. The 100 NGOs gathered in Barcelona in November 1998 during the celebration of the V Forum, decided to start a campaign ("Protect the Mediterranean" YES! But... Ratify the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols. Now!"). The target public of this campaign includes the responsible Minister of each State and the European Union, as well as the corresponding Parliaments. The campaign requests the effort to attain SIX ratifications before the XI Meeting of the Contracting Parts that will be held in Malta in October 1999.

MED Forum, The Mediterranean NGO Network for Ecology and Sustainable Development, groups more than 80 NGOs of the 23 Mediterranean countries distributed in a very equilibrated way around the Mediterranean coastline (51% from the Southeast and 49% from the North). The NGOs assembled in MED Forum want to denounce the attitude of the different States and the European Union representation as they assist to the Malta Meeting without having done their homework: they have not fulfilled their task of protecting the Mediterranean.

The NGOs gathered in Malta have given them a new term, until June 2000, to ratify the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols. We ask the Ministers and the European Union representation to engage themselves in the presence of the public opinion and the own citizens, to ratify the Convention and its Protocols. We also require them to set the political, economic and human mechanisms to accomplish the content of the international treaties that permit an actual protection of the Mediterranean and its coastline so that the citizens of today and the generations of the future could enjoy it.

For a Mediterranean full of life, Ratify the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols, NOW!

 

 

 

 
  1. Barcelona Convention. Amendments, June 95

    2. Ratified by: Croatia (5/99), Monaco (4/97), Spain (2/99), Tunisia (6/98).

    15 are needed for it to come into force

  2. Dumping at Sea Protocol. Amendments, June 95

    3. Ratified by: Croatia (5/99), Monaco (4/97), Morocco (12/97), Spain (2/99), Tunisia (6/98).

    15 are needed for it to come into force

  3. Land-Based Sources Protocol. Amendments, April 96

    4. Ratified by: Monaco (11/96), Morocco (10/96), Spain (2/99), Tunisia (6/98).

    15 are needed for it to come into force

  4. Offshore Protocol. New, October 94

    5. Ratified by: Tunisia (6/98).

    6 are needed for it to come into force

  5. Specially Protected Areas Protocol. New, June, 95

    6. Ratified by: Monaco (6/97), Spain (12/98), Tunisia (6/98).

    6 are needed for it to come into force

  6. Hazardous Wastes Protocol. New, October 96

    7. Ratified by: Tunisia (6/98).

    6 are needed for it to come into force

  7. Emergency Protocol. In force since February 1978

Libya: is preparing the ratification of the Convention and its amended Protocols.

Spain: announced that consultations are being made to ratify the two new protocols.

Italy: announced the ratification of the Convention and its Dumping at Sea, Land-Based Sources and SPA Protocols.

Greece: announced that it proposes ratifying all pending documents.

Albania: announced ratification by the end of 1999, with no further specification.

Croatia: announced the ratification of the SPA Protocol.

Cyprus: announced the ratification of the Protocols concerning SPAs, Dumping at Sea, Land-Based Pollution and Hazardous Wastes.

France: announced the ratification of the Convention and the Protocols concerning Land-Based Sources, Dumping and SPAs.

The European Union: announced the ratification of the Convention and the Protocols on Land-Based Sources, Dumping and SPAs.

 

 

To sum up, we can say that only the SPA Protocol (Specially Protected Areas) will come into force in the near future, while the amendments to the Convention and to two protocols only have an "announcement" of thirteen ratifications, when at least 15 are required. The Hazardous Wastes and Offshore Protocols do not have the minimum backing for enforcement.The MED Forum campaign has borne some fruit, but it must continue until all the documents can be enforced.

 

 

3. XI Meeting of the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention

Malta, 27 - 30 October 1999

The official conference opened on 27 October with the presentation of the report by the MAP Co-ordinator, which basically contained:

The national state representatives, ministers and high-level civil servants expounded their countries’ policy as regards the MAP. They explained their commitment to the ratification of amendments to the Convention and its Protocols (see previous point), and announced a series of initiatives, the most outstanding of which were:

Intergovernmental bodies and NGOs also took part. MED Forum intervened to highlight government’s lack of political determination when it comes to applying the agreements contained in the Barcelona Convention, not ratifying its legal substance and not giving the MAP the necessary instruments to apply its agreements. It highlighted the campaign for ratification which has been conducted, and requested that it be ratified as soon as possible, "by June 2000 at the latest", as agreed by the NGOs meeting in Malta. It proposed that the states should work in partnership on specific proposals, such as those contained in the MED Forum 2000 Agenda or the latest declarations "on combating desertification", "coastal management", etc. The NGOs intervening were international (Greenpeace, FOE, WWF), networks (MIO and MED Forum) and national NGOs (EcoMediterrānia, IMC).

 

 

 

 

4. MED Forum chosen to form part of the MCSD (Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development)

At this XI MAP meeting, members were elected to make up the MCSD for the next two years. MED Forum was elected to form part of the MCSD for the first time; to date, it had always been indirectly represented by network member NGOs, such as EcoMediterrānia, APNEK or WWF. Another four NGOs were also elected members: WWF, MEDCoats, Enda Magreb and MedWet. MED Forum was surprised that MedWet was elected on behalf of the NGOs, as it is an intergovernmental organisation: it is mainly made up of state bodies, study centres and a few NGOs. MED Forum expressed its disagreement with this choice, despite its considerable appreciation of the good work being carried out by MedWet in the defence of Mediterranean wetlands.

MED Forum addressed Mediterranean NGOs which are not members, offering to provide them with information and participate through the network in MCSD projects.

 

5. Presentation of the Project "Ulixes 21. Towards Sustainable Tourism in the Mediterranean" and the macro-exhibition on "Sustainable Development in the Mediterranean".

MED Forum presented a display of its macro-exhibition on sustainable development in the entrance to the official conference at the New Dolment Hotel in Qawra. Conference participants were highly appreciative of both its contents and the way the exhibition was laid out. The professionalism and rigour of the contents dealing with the situation in the Mediterranean were particularly commented on.

The project "Ulixes 21" and its associated actions were presented in the framework of the exhibition; they include the guidebook Sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean, the leaflet "Wanted: the tourist of the future", the "Call for sustainable tourism", etc. The Secretary General of MED Forum, Mr. Rafael MADUEŅO, made the presentation to all the conference attendees, with the interventions of the Maltese Minister for the Environment and President of the Conference and the MAP, Mr. Francis ZAMMIT, and Mr. Lucien CHABASON, Co-ordinator of the UNEP-MAP. Also present were the President of MED Forum, Mr. Zohir SEKKAL, Mr. Dunstan HAMILTON and the representative of the UNEP, Mr. ILLUECA, Assistant Executive Director of the UNEP and Director of the Environmental Conventions Division.

After presenting the project, the Secretary General of MED Forum invited those present to "apply the ULIXES 21 project in your country". "You will have the collaboration of MED Forum and over 90 NGOs in all Mediterranean countries to do so". The Co-ordinator of the MAP, Mr. CHABASON, highlighted the work being done by MED Forum, its election as a member of the MCSD, and its important contributions to the development and application of the Barcelona Convention. The Minister, Mr. ZAMMIT, underlined the role of NGOs in the development of the MAP, particularly the important work being done by MED Forum in the various countries where it is present. He also emphasised the fact that this was not the first time MED Forum had been active in Malta; it was involved in the programme "Green light for the Mediterranean" and, more recently, with the organisation of the meeting of Mediterranean NGOs. He stressed the importance of MED Forum’s election to the MCSD and the important role that the Network can play as a spokesman for Mediterranean NGOs.

The presentations were followed by lively discussion at the reception which MED Forum organised for the participants of the XI Meeting of the Contracting Parties.

MED Tourism

The MED Forum 2000 Agenda pinpoints tourism as an area for priority action. To further this line of action, four NGOs which are working on the Ulixes 21 project meeting in Malta (October 1999) agreed to create MED Tourism, the network’s tourism commission.

This commission was created with two basic aims: to co-ordinate the activities of the Ulixes 21 project and to establish an ongoing channel of communication for all MED Forum NGOs which are interested in tourism-related themes.

The first activities will be the preparation of the Ulixes 21 campaign for the year 2000 and the creation of information holdings for tourism projects which are being carried out by MED Forum NGOs.

This commission is open to all MED Forum NGOs which collaborate on the Ulixes 21 project, those which are developing a tourism-related project and those which may not be working on a specifically tourism-related project but are interested in the subject.

 

6. Media presence

Media presence was important during the "Maltese Mediterranean Week". First of all, the meeting organised by MED Forum and MIO had a high profile in the written press, but also on Maltese television and radio. The fish event and the ratification of the Convention and its Protocols made a major graphic impression on television. The presence of MED Forum led to a long TV interview and another, lasting an hour, on the radio. We can say that the first public action as MED Forum, although a simple one, made a big impression on those attending the congress and on the media.

 

7. Meetings with official representatives

Before and during the XI Meeting, MED Forum was involved in the important task of lobbying official representatives. Major collaboration links have been established with the current President of the Bureau of the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention (also known as President of the MAP) and the Maltese Minister for the Environment, Mr. Francis ZAMMIT. Mr. ZAMMIT presided the NGO meeting, organised jointly by MED Forum and MIO, took part in the event organised by MED Forum and the reception, and received us in his parliament office where we had a cordial conversation about future collaboration between MED Forum and the Maltese Government.

MED Forum had an interview with the Secretary General of the Spanish Ministry for the Environment, Mr. Juan Luis MURIEL, with a view to obtaining Spain’s ratification of the two pending protocols and its collaboration in MED Forum’s general programmes, questions which he undertook to address. We had an important meeting with the Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Valerio CALZOLAIO, the current President of Annexe 4 of the Convention on combating desertification. Apart from requesting Italy’s commitment to ratify the protocols it has pending, we reached an agreement for MED Forum to take active part in Annexe 4 of the Convention and collaboration in the forthcoming III Meeting in Recife (Brazil). Meetings were held with almost all the delegations, including France (Messrs. ROUSSEL, Serge ANTONIE and CARLAT), the European Union (Messrs. BAIL, CURATOLO, JIMENEZ BELTRAN, Executive Director of the AEMA, and UHEL), Cyprus (Mr. GABRIELIDES), Greece (Mr. LASCARATOS), Lebanon, Monaco (Messrs. FAUTRIER and VAN KLAVEREN), Spain (Messrs. PEŅALVER and Ms. RAMBLA), Syria (Mr. Abdul HAMID), Tunisia (Messrs. BEN MANSOUR, ATTIA) and Turkey. There were also meetings and informal contact with other intergovernmental organisations and with the Regional Action Centres, especially the Co-ordinator, Mr. CHABASON, and the Assistant Co-ordinator, Mr. HOBALLAH, and the co-ordinator of MED POL, Mr. Saverio CIVILI.

To sum up, we can say that MED Forum, in the form of its eight representatives, was involved in intense activity everyday throughout the meeting, and obtained commitments for the future.

8. Overall assessment of MED Forum’s activity during the "Maltese Mediterranean Week".

We can conclude that MED Forum played a key role in the "Maltese Mediterranean Week", before and during the XI Meeting of the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention for Protection of the Mediterranean. The organisation of the Mediterranean NGOs’ meeting, the "Declaration of the Mediterranean NGO Networks", MED Forum’s artistic fish event calling for the ratification of the Convention and its Protocols, the "Manifesto: Life for the Mediterranean. Ratify the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols. NOW!", the organisation of a macro-exhibition about the Mediterranean and the public presentation of the "ULIXES 21" project: all were public activities which conveyed a message to Maltese society about the important role of NGOs in the defence and protection of the Mediterranean basin. Alongside these activities, we carried out an important task of "lobbying" to obtain the ratification of the Barcelona Convention and its protocols which had its effects on several countries, particularly European Union members, such as Spain, France, Italy and Greece. The declaration of MED Forum at the XI Plenary Meeting, interviews with Ministers and state representatives, the reception given for participants and the many contacts of the large MED Forum delegation, all led to recognition of the Network’s activity in the form of its contributions to the MAP and the MCSD. This recognition has taken the form of MED Forum’s election as a member of the MCSD, as well as the declarations of the President of the Executive Committee of the Contracting Parties, the Maltese Minister for the Environment, and the Co-ordinator of UNEP-MAP.

This major recognition is important for the future of MED Forum, but above all we have acquired greater responsibility to official institutions and society in general. We will strive not to disappoint the trust placed in MED Forum, Mediterranean NGO Network for Ecology and sustainable Development, which works with its member NGOs in collaboration with other networks and individual NGOs to improve citizens’ living conditions and protect the Mediterranean environment.