Stronger together for the Mediterranean Sea MedPAN is a network of Marine Protected Area managers dedicated to halt the loss of biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea. MedPAN’s mission: Actively contribute to achieve a representative, connected, integrated and effectively managed system of Mediterranean MPAs, through a strong and active networking of MPA managers and other actors at all levels that increases knowledge and capacities of MPAs while improving awareness, MPA policy implementation and funding.

2019-2023 and beyond strategy Albania - National Agency of Protected Areas, * APAWA – Association for Protection of Aquatic Wildlife of Albania, * INCA – Institute for Nature Conservation in Albania, * Royal Albanian Foundation – Algeria - Commissariat National du Littoral, National Park of El Kala, National Park of Gouraya, National Park of Taza, *“Barbarous” association, * “Le Dauphin” association, * National Scientific Association of Young people “Discovery of Nature” - Croatia - Brijuni National Park, Kornati National Park (founding member), Lastovo Islands Nature Park Public Institution, Mljet National Park, Public Institution for Management of Nature protected areas in Dubrovnik Neretva County, Public Institution of Priroda, Public Institution for Management of protected areas in Šibenik-Knin County, Public Institution for Management of Protected Areas in ZADAR, Telašçica Nature Park Public Institution, * Blue World Institute of Marine Research and Conservation, * Marine Explorers Society – 20000 leagues, * Sunce – Association for Nature, Environment and Sustainable Development – Cyprus - Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (DFMR) – Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment – Egypt - Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (founding member), * Nature Conservation Egypt – France - Calanques National Park, City of Agde – MPA of the Agathoise Coast (ADENA founding member), City of Antibes Juan-les-Pins, City of Marseille, Cities of the Saint-Tropez gulf – Marine Observatory department: “Corniche Varoise” MPA, Corsican Environment Office – Natural Reserve of the Straight of Bonifacio, Conseil Général Pyrénées Orientales – Cerbère-Banyuls Reserve, Corsican Natural Regional Park – Natural Reserve of Scandola, Metropole of Nice-Côte d’Azur (Natura 2000 at Sea site of Cap Ferrat), Port-Cros National Park (founding member), Regional Natural Park of Camargue, WWF France foundation (founding member), * Conservatoire du Littoral – International Unit, * French Biodiversity Agency, * Grouper Study Group, * Mediterranean Small Islands Initiative, * Medwet, * Plan Bleu, * Planète Mer, * Septentrion Environnement, * Souffleurs d’Ecume, * Tour du Valat – Greece - Thermaikos Gulf Protected Areas Management Authority, Karpathos and Saria Protected Area Management Agency, Management Body of the National Marine Park ofMedPANAlonnisos Northern Sporades, gathers:Management Body of Samaria (White Mountains) National Park, Zakynthos National Park (founding member), * WWF Greece – Israel - Nature and Parks Authority, * Eco-ocean – Italy - Cinque Terre National Park, City of Alghero : MPA of Capo Caccia-Isola Piana, City of Cabras – Manager of the MPA of “Penisola del Sinis – Isola di Mal di Ventre”, Consortium of Management of Portofino MPA, Consortium of the Marine Reserve Punta Campanella, Consortium of Management of Torre Guaceto, Gargano National Park Authority : Natural Marine Reserve of Tremiti islands, MPA of the Egadi Islands, MPA of the Bergeggi Island, MPA of Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo, MPA of Torre del Cerrano, MPA of Ustica, Municipality of Lampedusa and Linosa – Isole Pelagie MPA, Municipality of San Benedetto del Tronto, Plemmirio MPA Consortium, Porto Cesareo MPA management Consortium, Province of Crotone – MPA of Capo Rizzuto, Regional Park Migliarino San Rossore Massaciuccoli – MPA of « Secche della Meloria », Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli – Public Authority in charge of the marine parks of Baia et Gaiola, Tuscany Archipelago National Park, Villasimius Municipality – Management Body of Capo Carbonara MPA, WWF Italy – Miramare Marine Reserve (founding member), * Cetacean Studies Center, * “DelTA” association, * FEDERPARCHI – Italian Federation of Natural Parks and Reserves, * General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), * Interdisciplinary Study Center Gaiola onlus, * WWF Mediterranean Programme Office – Lebanon - PINRC – Palm Islands Nature Reserve Committee, Tyre Coast Nature Reserve, * Environment Protection Committee (EPC) – Libya - * Environmental General Authority – EGA – Malta - * Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) – Morocco - * AGIR Association, * Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts et à la lutte contre la désertification, * RODPAL – Network of NGOs in the National Park of Al Hoceima – Monaco - Nature Protection Association in Monaco, * ACCOBAMS – Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea Mediterranean Sea and Contigous Atlantic Area – Montenegro - * MEDCEM116– Mediterranean Center for Environmental Monitoring, * “Posidonia Center for Development and Resources” NGO – Slovenia110- Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Nature Conservation (founding member), Municipality of Ankaran (Parc of Debeli Rtič), Public19Institute Landscape Park Strunjan, * Morigenos – Slovenian Marine Mammals Society – Spain - Andalucia regional authority,organisationsBalearic Government General Directorate of Natural Areas and Biodiversity, DEPANA – League for the Defensemanagedof the Natural Heritage, MPAsGovernment of Catalonia, National Parks Authority – Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (OAPN), * Columbarescountriesassociation, * Fundacion Biodiversidad, * Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. General Secretariat of Fisheries, * IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature – Mediterranean Centre for Cooperation – Tunisia - * APAL – Coastal Protection and Development Agency, * RAC/SPA – Regional Activity Center for Specially Protected Areas, * “Notre Grand Bleu” association – Turkey - WWF Turkey (founding member), * Mediterranean Conservation Society (akdeniz koruma dernegi), * SAD – Underwater Research Society, * Turkish Marine Research Foundation www.mapamed.org The Mediterranean MPA system in 2016: 1,231 MPAs and OECMs covering 179,798 km2

All MPAs and OECMs: 6.81 %

National designations: 1.27 %

Fully and strongly protected areas (no-go, no-take, no-fishing zones) : 0.04 %

Largely coastal and European Mostly cover shallow waters Insight into management

From the 2016 interview of 73 MPA managers

Lack of permanent Insufficient funds, Few management Weak surveillance & trained staff, few business plans - Weak and enforcement. Lack of material. plans. monitoring / few baselines.

© MedPAN MedPAN does:

Improve Build capacities Link policy-making Support knowledge. and share with local actions. Mediterranean vision MPA database – Status of solutions. European policies – and financing. MPAs – Climate change Barcelona Convention - Experience sharing Mediterranean MPA Forum – and Invasive species – Convention of Biological workshops and visits – Best Roadmap for Mediterranean Monitoring protocols… Diversity – United Nations practices - Training cursus – MPAs – The MedFund… … Small projects…

2019-2023 and beyond strategy

© MedPAN Support Mediterranean vision and financing Forum of MPAs in the Mediterranean

3rd edition in October 2020

Thematic sessions: ➔ Opportunity for exchange on the conservation of Posidonia meadows (towards common indicator at Med level)

Post-2020 recommendations ➔ Actions to enhance the value of the Posidonia meadow in carbon compensation measures (particularly in the air and maritime transport sectors) Knowledge 2020 Status of MPAs in the Mediterranean

Pre-assessment based on the responses collected from 99 MPAs (work in progress)

➔ So far, 55% MPAs target Posidonia as one of the main species in their management objectives.

Monitoring Conservation implemented measures applied Build capacity and share solutions Raise awareness for regulations and enforcement

Need for effective surveillance and enforcement of regulations

(data from the 2016 Status of Mediterranean MPAs)

Challenges:

➔ Overcoming conflicts of competence between administrations ➔ Providing MPA rangers with police power ➔ Strengthening operational coordination between local authorities, administrations and actors The management of recreational boating activity in Portofino marine protected area (Ligurian Sea) and the measures to mitigate anchoring

Valentina Cappanera Portofino MPA Anchors away! Mitigating direct anthropogenic impacts on Posidonia beds Green Fund, Villa Kazouli, Kifisias Avenue 241, Athens, Greece 21-22 November 2019 Portofino MPA

Zona A (no take-no entry zone) Zona B (generally protected zone) Zona C (partially protected zone)

SPAMI (2005) L-TER (2007) Natura 2000: IT1332674

page 13 The environment

Seaweed environment The most important benthic populations

pre-coralligenous

Coralligenous and twiligth environments

Portofino MPA -Zoning A (19,05 he) B (167,02 he) C (188,061 he)

Fine sand 0 0,13 11,49

Infralittoral plebbes (IP) 0,59 1,50 0

Photophilic infralittoral algae (PIA) 2,77 17,55 20,54

Sciaphilic red algae 1,15 11,50 15,53

Posidonia meadows(HP) 0,53 0,41 38,97 Along the western and eastern slopes of the Mixed of living and dead Posidonia 0 0 0,99 Promontory: Dead matte of Posidonia 0 0,35 3,83 meadow of Posidonia oceanica Sciaphilic circalittoral algae 0 14,98

Coastal muddy bottoms (VTC) 0 0 15,58

The typical biocenosis of the southern slope Coralligenous assemblages (C) 0,74 17,21 2,75 are the pre-coralligenous and coralligenous Coastal detritus (CD) 10,75 144,94 42,15 one Muddy detritus (MD) 0 0 14,48 Conceptual model of Portofino MPA

Science for Management Workshop, Ortigia, 5-6 March 2013 Biodiversity target identified in ISEA project

Lobster: the species Palinurus elephas, together with other crostaceans such as the Mediterranean slipper lobster (Scyllarides latus and Scyllarus arctus), European lobster (Homarus gammarus) and the spider grab (Maja squinado)

Grouper: brown grouper (Epinephelus marginatus), but also red grouper (Mycteroperca rubra)

Coralligenous habitat: tipical habitat of infra and circa-littoral coast included in the Barcellona Convention as Priority Habitat IV.3.1 by the SPA/BIO protocol

Posidonia oceanica: habitat included in the Barcellona Convention as Priority Habitat III.5.1 by the SPA/BIO protocol (SPAMI and Natura 2000 species) associated with important protected species included in the SPAMI list such as Pinna Nobilis

Vision “Conservation and education for a better life quality” Portofino MPA is close to several ports and marinas: the structures of Genoa are located in the west (more than 5000 recreational boats can reach this MPA in less than three hours) in the east there are ports and marinas of different little towns for a total of 2000 recreational boats

National berth (%)

Data from U.C.I.N.A. page 17 High environmental value + high frequentation

page 18 The monitoring activity Visual census by MPA boat The monitoring activity is useful and necessary because of the presence of areas which are Natura 2000 sites: Posidonia oceanica and coralligenous habitat are biodiversity target to preserve inside Portofino MPA

Since 2006, in a strict collaboration with the University of Genoa, Portofino MPA has been Types of monitoring totally comparable (3% of gap) carrying on specific monitoring campaigns in order to know the full extent of recreational boating problem, identifying the high risk area of the MPA and optimizing management strategies already in place

This monitoring activity permits to have good informations with low cost (the activity is carried on above all by students of the Boating monitoring by daily ferries University of Genoa)

Venturini et al. 2018 - Recreational boating in the Portofino Marine Protected Area (MPA), Italy: Characterization and analysis in the last decade (2006–2016) and some considerations on management page 19 This collaboration brought to the creation of WebGIS MACISTE system (Marine Coastal Information System).

The presence of boats can be easily compared with weather conditions as well as, spatially, with habitats.

Relevant differences in the presence of the boats have been found depending on the different summer months, on the day and on the better weather conditions

The weather evaluation is a critical point of the methodology because it can depend on the grade of expertise of the operator but a local weather evaluation permits to better estimate the weather condition reducing the weather forecast uncertainty www.remare.org page 20 The hystorical series of data

Number of boats in Portofino MPA from 2006 to 2018 16000 (estimated value)

14000 13496

12056 11347 12000 16 giugno 2014 11412 Ore 15.00 10574 10589 10535 10212 10511 10098 9753 10000 9310 10223

8000

6000

4000 Numberof boats in the summerseason

2000 16 giugno 2014 16 giugno 2014 Ore 16.00 circa 0 Ore 15.30 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

The high number of boats evaluated in 2018: since 2013 the monitoring activity has been improved with information collected with camera surveillance system, even if it is only useful to evaluate boating fluxes and have information on weather condition page 21 Distribution of recreational boating in the Portofino MPA Praterie di Posidonia Climatic stressors Antropic stressors

storms anchoring Sedimentation and Torbidity Alien species Mucillagines pollution

Capacity of adaptation: Medium Vulnerability: HIGH Monitoring on Posidonia

Antropic stressors Climatic stressors Anchoring Storms Sedimentation

Before the storm: improving trend

Other monitoring activities in 2019

Conservation Index Name 2005 2011 2018 San Rocco 0.978768577 0.815192744 0.745102454 Cervara 0.491002571 0.607773852 0.654910097 Niasca 0.224074074 0.436563437 Management measures adopted

1) over a hundred of ‘seagrass‐friendly’ moorings for recreational boating

before After (2012)

2) a forbidden zone to boats of more than 10 m long

page 25 Management measures adopted

3) from 2012 a swim line forbidden to boats access 2012

page 26 what has worked and what has not worked

Positive aspects A predictive model could support the management addressing boats to the less frequented zones (actually we are working on the creation of a predictive model for recreational boating addressed to inform users, in advance, regarding most congested areas and encourage the correct use of Portofino MPA)

A mooring zone permits to increase the income of the MPA that could invest on the habitat protection

The seagrass-friendly mooring area is one of the most visited sectors in the MPA of Portofino, showing a good acceptance of this kind of mooring system by the recreational boaters

Negative aspects PortofinoLack of consciousnessMPA managesinthetheNaturalocal population2000 site ofbutthehasPosidoniato interfacehabitatwithimportanceRegione Liguria. Often the Region gives permission to carry on activities inside protected zones without taking into consideration the MPA Authority (conflicts of competence between We still have to work on raising awareness administrations) page 27 Future prospective

Exportation of the monitoring protocol for boating activity to other Italian MPAs The Italian Ministry of Environment asked us to transfer our methodology to Sinis MPA (Sardinia) and Tremiti MPA (Puglia)

Extension of the Portofino MPA limits Some of the municipalities outside of the MPA want to be included within the limits of the MPA We started a first consultation some weeks ago Inclusion of other areas with Posidonia meadow that are outside the MPA

Redesignation of the different level of protection zones within the MPA Extension of the General reserve to the east and west side of Portofino Promontory where Posidonia oceanica is, in order to avoid anchoring definitely

page 28 Thank you for your attention

Valentina Cappanera Portofino MPA [email protected]

page 29