If the sea
is the medium where life had its origin, the Mediterranean is the craddle of a culture
born from the synthesis of the wealth of powerful ageold cultures. The Mediterranean has
established a close relationship between economy, nature and culture.
The dependence of Mediterranean societies among
each other, and on the natural environment, has increasingly submitted this very
environment to varied and complex pressures which are evident in the physical and
biological degradation of the countryside in the Mediterranean basin. The concentration of
population, the pressures of mass tourism, industrial complexes, forms of consumerism and
lifestyles which waste our resources, have caused a great impact on the environment and a
thorough change of the prevailing models of development are needed.
This situation arises in a deeply inbalanced and unequal context. The industialized north
produces great pressures due to its productive and service industries and to the highly
populated urban areas on the coast which lead to an unbearable situation. The south and
east have great development problems and poverty which also lead to situations, unbearable
for their populations which are continuously growing, and for their environment, which are
more and more degraded. Moreover, the political, social and religious conflicts in certain
areas of the Mediterranean also have negative effects on the population and its
envronment.
In spite of the shy attempts of the governments to find an adequate framework for
relations, no progress has been made in applying practical solutions to the serious
problems raised. We are convinced of the need for active participation of the public
through the NGOs. In this place of meeting, but also of confrontation, it is necessary to
strengthen the ties between the peoples who live in contact with a coast bathed by the
waters of the Mediterranean sea.
The Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) which work toward the consevation and protection
of the environment wish to contribute to making the Mediterranean a sea of harmony and
cooperation where its inhabitants can lead alife of peace and well-being, fully respectful
of their environment and of nature.
Having met in Barcelona at this Founding Act, we have decided to create a NETWORK of
environmentalist and ecological organisations of the Mediterranean to incite in our
respective countries and all the Mediterranean basin the ideals of support between
peoples, of people with their environment, and between the people of today and the
generations of the future. We will only preserve our environment and nature if we apply a
model of sustainable developpment, which will allow an integrated and supportive
management of the coast of the Mediterranean basin.
The NGOs who have signed this
document have decided to create the MED FORUM NETWORK (Forum of the Mediterranean for the
Environment and sustainable Development) setting ourselves as Founding Members of this
organisation whose field of action will coincide with the countries bathed by the waters
of the Mediterranean. There will be only one Founding Member per country and new Founding
Members may be added by the incorporation of NGOs whose country of origin is not
represented at the moment of Founding, and beingaccepted unanimously by the Founding
Members who have signed this Document. The organisation and decision taking of the NETWORK
will be established by the Founding Members in the Statutes. All NGOs who wish to , and
are accepted, may become members of the network.
The MED FORUM NETWORK will name its executives and representatives as established by the
Statutes. The NETWORK will have a Budget which will be approved by the Assembly of the
Founding Members at their first meeting. Thereafter, the budgets will be approved as ruled
by the Statutes. The NETWORK will appoint an Executive Committee which will be represented
by a President and which will be responsible for the management of the NETWORK. The
NETWORK will have a Secretariat, headed by the Secretary General of the MED FORUM NETWORK,
which will cover the executive work of the NETWORK. Inicially, the headquarters of the
NETWORK will be located in Barcelona.
For a Mediterranean full of life in the whole basin, for a balance between man and nature,
for solidarity between the peoples of today and the future generations, The bellow signing
ONGs commit themselves to work together in order to apply an integrated and supportive
management in the Mediterranean in a framework of sustainable developpment.
Barcelona, twenty-ninth November 1995.