Malaga Declaration
Mediterranean environmental journalists and communicators along with representatives of the Alliance of Mediterranean News Agencies (AMAN), convened in Malaga on 18 December, 2015 on the occasion of the First Meeting of Environmental Journalists from Mediterranean News Agencies called by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation,
A C K N O W L E D G I N G:
That the Mediterranean is a biodiversity hotspot and that the preservation of its rich natural, cultural and linguistic heritage is at the foundations of human wellbeing and the socioeconomic development of its peoples;
That the countries of the Mediterranean region have historically suffered serious environmental challenges that have exacerbated in recent years especially due to climate change, with evident and worrisome social and economic implications for society;
The pressing importance of disseminating sufficient environmental and scientific information via the mass media and social networks to form and educate public opinion and decision makers in the region;
The existence of a growing need to produce high quality journalistic information about science and the environment with a view to helping improve the general public’s understanding of environmental challenges as well as their solutions;
The difficulties that news media face to report environmental threats in the region with a coverage that is both suitable and proportionate to their real relevance for the region, as this information is nowadays often limited, superficial or incomplete;
That the environmental information produced is usually fragmented and rather focused on isolated events in a local or national context, and not on the Mediterranean region as a whole;
Therefore wish to publicly
D E C L A R E:
That they consider necessary the establishment of a partnership to provide mechanisms for cooperation among environmental and scientific information professionals from Mediterranean countries;
In collaboration with Funded by
That the following stand out among the potential objectives of the aforesaid Mediterranean partnership:
o To augment the amount of information about environmental challenges in the region;
o To improve information quality through access to reliable and diverse data sources and experts so that relevant information can be properly placed in context;
o To enhance a comprehensive overview of the issues addressed beyond their local effects, by sharing data and information with other members of the alliance; and
o To increase the dissemination of that information so that it can reach a wider audience in the Mediterranean, and beyond.
That to implement that partnership they propose the creation of a network to promote activities towards the achievement of these objectives above, namely:
o Specialised seminars, workshops and meetings to focus on topics of common interest, gather experts on the subject and supply useful in‐depth information within the scope of environmental journalism in the region;
o To create relevant databases and contact lists to facilitate access to sources by members of the partnership and network;
o To foster cooperation among its members to jointly project a comprehensive overview of the challenges and achieve a wider dissemination of their work, also by undertaking coordinated reporting;
o To facilitate access to community and international aid for projects associated to the environmental press media and the members’ activities;
o To develop new proposals for coordinated actions to foster the production and dissemination of news and the professionalism of environmental journalism in the Mediterranean.
And in accordance with the above, they hereby sign this Declaration in Malaga on 18 December, 2015.
In collaboration with Funded by
1ST MEETING OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS FROM NEWS AGENCIES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
Malaga, 17 – 18 December 2015
Name Organisation País
Albanian News Agency (ATA, Agjencia Telegrafike Mr. Arbi Fortuzi Albania Shqiptare)
Ms Daghiche Fatma‐ Argelia News Agency Algeria Zohra
Mr. Ivo Lucic Agencia Hina Croatia
Mr. George AMAN (Alliance of Mediterranean News Agencies) Cyprus Penintaex
Mrs Kyriaki CNA ‐ Cyprus Cyprus christodoulou
Ms. Isabel Agence France‐Presse France Wesselingh
Association des journalistes scientifiques de la Ms. Magali Reinert France presse d'information
CEPF ‐ Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund- North Ms. Awatef Abiadh France Africa Programme
Ms. Mailis Renaudin MedWET ‐ Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative France
Athens News Agency ‐ Macedonian Press Agency Mr. Elias Palialexis Greece (AMNA)
United Nations Environmental Programme, Ms. Hoda Elturk Greece Barcelona Convention Secretariat
In collaboration with Funded by
Coordinator of International Relations for the RAI Ms. Alessandra and Secretary General of COPEAM (the Permanent Italy Paradisi Conference of the Mediterranean Audiovisuals Operators)
Ms. Bianca La Placa Federazione Italiana Media Ambientali (FIMA) Italy
Mr. Grammenios Italian Cooperation ‐ Ministry of Foreign Affairs Italy Mastrojeni
Presidente Federazione Italiana Media Ambientali Mr. Mario Salomone Italy (FIMA)
Ms. Sanaa Nehme National News Agency ‐NNA Lebanon
Mr. Sidi El Moctar African Network of Environmental Journalists Mauritania CHEIGUER
Ms. Ihssane El Fondation Mohamed VI pour la Protection de Morocco Marouani l'Environnement
Ms. Fatima‐Zahra Fondation Mohamed VI pour la Protection de Morocco Lahlali l'Environnement
Mr. Taha Amiar Journalist ‐ Massolia Morocco
Mr. Omar Er‐Rouch Moroccan News Agency (MAP) Morocco
Ms. Elsa Alves LUSA Agency Portugal
Mrs Maja News Agency Tanjug Serbia Ljubicanovic
Mr. Juan María Agencia EFE Spain Calvo Roy
Ms. Catalina Arevalo Agencia EFE Spain Martínez
In collaboration with Funded by
Ms. María García de APIA ‐ Asociación de Periodistas de Información Spain la Fuente Ambiental (APIA)
Mr. Ignacio Fdez‐ Spanish Association of Scientific Communication Spain Bayo
Mr. Javier Fernández ECORYS España Spain López
Mr. Jérémie Fosse Eco‐Union Spain
Mr. Arturo Larena EFE Verde Spain
Mr. Federico Martire ENPI CBCMED Spain
Ms. Isabel Pardillos Union for the Mediterranean Spain
Ms. Chantal Menard WWF Mediterranean Programme Spain
Ms. Henda Nawaat.org Tunisia Chennaoui
Ms. Faten Barouni Tunisian News Agency, Tunis‐Afrique Presse (TAP) Tunisia
Ms. Dilara Anadolu Agency Turkey kucukerdogan
Jorge F. Orueta SEO/Birdlife Spain
Lourdes Lázaro IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation Spain
Sonsoles Sanroman IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation Spain
In collaboration with Funded by