Blue Plan activities

Coastal areas topic receives an in-depth analysis in the new UNEP/MAP-Plan Bleu report: State of the Environment and Development in the Mediterranean - 2009.

See the Blue Plan publications on coastal areas topic.

Observation: the irreversible degradations of a unique heritage

The 46 000 km of coastline are coveted for development and the preferred or mandatory areas for many activities. They are also fragile and of high ecological, social and cultural value. The pressures cumulating on the coasts trigger the trend towards continuous degradation of the marine and coastal areas.
• Built-up areas now cover nearly 40% of the coastline.
• 80% of the total pollution affecting the Mediterranean sea is from land-based sources.
• Half of the cities with over 100 000 inhabitants do not have water treatment plants and 60% of urban waste water are discharged into the sea without being treated. Yet the quality of bathing water has improved in the EU.
• The accumulation of persistent toxic substances (PTS) in food chains is cause for concern. Locally, measurements have shown levels above WHO standards.
• The in-put of nitrates has doubled in 20 years.
• Plastics account for 75% of the waste found on the sea floor or surface.
• Over the past 50 years, the amounts of sediments reaching the sea have fallen by 90%, and a large coastal surface is subjected to erosion.
• Despite the reduction of operational pollution by hydrocarbons resulting from regulations, it still accounts for 100 000 to 150 000 tonnes a year.
• Data reveals the introduction in the Mediterranean ecosystem of 500 foreign species.
• Degradation of fish resources has resulted in unemployment in the fishing industry.
• Coastlines are being cemented over by harbours and marinas to accommodate the expansion of pleasure yachting, which also contributes to solid-waste pollution, to untreated discharges into the marine environment and to degradation of marine plant life due
to anchorages.
• 104 species, including the monk seal and marine turtles, are considered as endangered
• Several tourist destinations have suffered considerable loss of income.

THE GRAPH
Population of coastal cities, 1950-2025

EXAMPLE OF GOOD PRACTICES
The Conservatoire Français du Littoral (French Coastline Conservatory) and the Agence tunisienne de protection et
d’aménagement du littoral (Tunisian Agency for the Protection and Development of Coastal Areas)

In 1975 France was the first Mediterranean country to pass a specific management instrument, the Conservatoire du littoral, to acquire natural coastal land. By 2003, the Conservatoire was protecting about 36 000 ha and 180 km of Mediterranean coastline (11% of its total Mediterranean coastline, 21% in Corsica). Without its contribution, virtually no natural space would remain on the Provence seafront.
In Tunisia, since 1995, there has been a
specific coastal institute, the Agence de protection et d’aménagement du littoral (APAL – Protection and Planning Agency for the Coastal Zones). APAL manages over 700 temporary projects along the coast. In 2000, 17 natural areas were granted the status of“sensitive zone”, and benefited from a management plan that makes it possible to protect and enhance approximately 9 500 ha along 190 km of coastline.

Foreseeable future: saturation of coastal areas

The baseline scenario projects significant increase in pressures with:

The most significant risk is the saturation of coastal areas and the additional artificialization of 4 000 more km of coastline (reaching 50% in 2025). The disparity in outlooks and means between EU members and candidate countries, benefiting from community
directives and funds, and the other Mediterranean-rim countries is also a risk.
The trend scenario also projects accrued risks of major accidental pollution incidents given the average age of the fleet, the number of ships with open-shipping registrations, the number of accidents recorded (311 in 23 years) and the potential quadrupling of maritime
traffic.

Alternatives: an international agreement for coastal areas

• With the adoption of the Barcelona Convention in 1975, degradations were reduced, but the reinforcement of tools and means is necessary if we are to reach the targeted objectives of progress.

• At the end of 2010, fifteen contracting countries to the Barcelona Convention and with the European Union adopted an international agreement on the Mediterranean coast in the form of a new regional protocol. It is the Mediterranean ICZM protocol that was signed in Madrid on January 2008. Five countries and the European Union have ratified it as yet. This protocol is crucial in the MAP history and provides a strong indication on a willingness to change. It allows the countries a better coastal management, to have coastal policies that will ensure a fair balance between protection and development, to better enhance their heritage and to confront the emerging issues such as climate change.

• The European research project PEGASO has been started in February 2009 for a four year period. It should allow, trough scientific and prospective studies, to support the implementation of the Mediterranean ICZM protocol. The main objective of PEGASO is to confront existing capacities, but also to develop some new joint approaches to support integrated policies in coastal, marine and sea areas of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

• Strengthening private and public financing to reduce pollution calls for stronger synergy of action between the Barcelona Convention, the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the countries and donors. The costs of upgrading the sewage treatment systems in South and East rim coastal cities of over 10 000 inhabitants have been estimated at 10 billion euros between now and 2025.

• Polluting waste would be reduced by 90% if MARPOL were extended to chemical products, if the ban on operational pollution was effectively applied through concerted maritime surveillance, and if Mediterranean ports were equipped with waste treatment facilities.