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MPA Engage kick-off meeting
On January 14 and 15 2020, the scientific staff of the National Marine Park of Zakynthos (NMPZ) attended the kick-off meeting of the project “MPA Engage: Engaging Mediterranean key actors in Ecosystem Approach to manage Marine Protected Areas to face Climate Change” in Barcelona, Spain. NMPZ participates as a partner in this research project, which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union (ΙNTERREG – MED PROGRAMME).
The European MPA Engage Research Project aims to promote and strengthen the role of Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as important tools for the effective protection and management of marine biodiversity and natural environment. In the context of the project, NMPZ participates in ecosystem approaching actions, in an effort to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change on MPAs of the Mediterranean. Indicatively, some of the aforementioned actions are the assessment of the vulnerability of biodiversity in the NMPZ in relation to Climate Change, the socio-economic impacts, the drafting and implementation of research protocols of scientific monitoring, the awareness of the public through specific communication actions, the strengthening of citizen science, as well as the creation of a climate change adaptation plan.
Climate change is dramatically affecting the Mediterranean Sea, which is warming at a rate 20% faster than the world’s average. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), despite the nature-based solution they offer to support efforts towards climate change adaptation and mitigation, are the first ones to feel the climate change effects. Several Mediterranean MPAs are already facing major biodiversity and functional alterations due to climate change, whereas others will likely face them in the next few decades. There is, therefore, an urgency to mitigate these risks and to consider adaptation options.
ΜPA Engage will contribute to the conservation of marine ecosystems through the strengthening of management and through participatory processes that will include all those involved in MPAs: Management Agencies of MPAs, local and regional authorities as well as coastal fishermen, diving leisure centers, research institutes and the local community.
The MPA Engage project actions will be carried out over a period of 3 years (November 2019 - June 2022). MPA Engage project is led by the Institute of Marine Sciences of the Spanish National Research Council and involves 14 Partners from 7 Countries: Italy, France, Spain, Croatia, Albania, Greece and Malta.
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