An important opportunity to collaborate and develop the synergy between the two projects: this is what emerged from the meeting held last week by the MED4EBM and ENSERES teams.

It is not always easy for institutions to implement the Ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach in the complex multi-stakeholder contexts that characterize the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) process. MED4EBM addresses this issue and will support in four Mediterranean coastal areas in Jordan, Italy, Lebanon and Tunisia to jointly produce a methodology aimed at making ICZM easier to lay out and apply to the territories. New tools and perspectives will help local officials and managers to plan, build and develop a renewed harmony between environmental necessities and human activities.

Parallel, as a capitalization project, ENSERES works on transferring and mainstreaming EBM tools at transboundary level, both in and outside areas under legal protection. New approaches and instruments will be shared with public authorities, socio-economic actors and civil society organizations in order for them to succeed in designing and implementing common goals, starting with the pilot sites of the Gulf of Gabes in Tunisia and the Tyre Coast Nature Reserve in Lebanon.
The commonality of perspectives and practices between Med4EBM and ENSERES could not be stronger.

After analyzing the status of the projects, the experts of the two projects discussed the possibility to transfer some of the MED4EBM tools in the pilot areas. In particular, the municipal authorities of two common pilot sites in Lebanon and Tunisia (partners and associated partners of ENSERES) might strengthen their collaboration and become “front runners” in assimilating the new management paradigms and showcasing the results.

The potential positive outcomes of fostering an interaction between the Permanent EBM Forum and the Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) Forum were also debated and agreed. The Permanent Forum, whose activities will officially start in March, is a platform where the experiences related to the applications of EBM tools are shared and become relevant material for training activities. The MPA Forum is a well-established web of major stakeholders that has sought with success to support the implementation of key biodiversity protection policies in the Mediterranean basin.

From few small pilot sites to the endless shores of the Mediterranean frame: new management models are being built and will soon be disseminated. One of the main occasions for sharing the new knowledge is at the end of 2022, when within ENSERES a MedPAN workshop for the MPAs will be organized, and the lessons learnt from the first stage of the project will be discussed.