Ninety participants, including representatives of twenty (out of twenty-two) Contracting Parties and of several MAP Partners, as well as scientists and experts from across the Mediterranean region, took part in the Integrated Meetings of the Ecosystem Approach Correspondence Groups on IMAP Implementation (CORMONs), which took place online from 1-3 December 2020.
CORMONs were established to steer the preparation and implementation of the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP) of the Mediterranean Sea and Coast in the framework of the Ecosystem Approach Roadmap (adopted in 2008 by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention).
The latest round of the CORMONs meetings provided guidance to the Contracting Parties on the implementation of IMAP and the recently adopted Roadmap for the 2023 Mediterranean Quality Status Report (adopted in 2019).
IMAP was introduced in 2016 to ensure quantitative integrated assessments of the state of the marine and coastal environment. It covers multiple aspects including pollution and marine litter, biodiversity, non-indigenous species, coastal zones and hydrography. Based on eleven Ecological Objectives and a series of Common Indicators agreed at regional level, IMAP sets regional standards to guide the formulation and implementation of national monitoring programmes by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols.
Building on IMAP and with support from the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat, the CORMONs will deliver the second issue of the Quality Status Report for the Mediterranean (MED QSR) in 2023 (the first MED QSR was released in 2017). MED QSR reports provide a regionally harmonized and accepted knowledge base on the status of Mediterranean ecosystems, including an assessment of progress in the achievement of Good Environmental Status (GES)—the outcome sought through the implementation of the Ecosystem Approach.
Participants in the CORMONs meetings held last week also examined how IMAP implementation can be coupled with applications of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). Technical tools of IMAP implementation related to Pollution, Marine Litter and Biodiversity and Fisheries (IMAP thematic clusters) were also reviewed and endorsed. In addition, recommendations were formulated on strengthening the Science-Policy Interface and on promoting science-based management in the context of the UN Decade for Ocean Science.
Two projects funded by the European Union, namely “EcAp MED III” and “Marine Litter MED II”, were launched during the CORMON meetings. They are expected to boost the implementation of IMAP and the delivery of the 2023 MED QSR. Beneficiary countries notably reiterated their commitment to the effective implementation of the projects.
Learn more: Monitoring and assessment in the mandate of the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat
