Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972. What makes the concept of World Heritage exceptional is its universal application. World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are located. The natural marine heritage is recollected into MAPAMED which is a cartographic database of key information on Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) potential Other Effective área-based Conservation Measure (OECMs), and more broadly on sites of interest for marine conservation. It is developed and administered jointly by UNEP/MAP-SPA/RAC and the MedPAN Association. For detailed information, please consult the MAPAMED user manual (April 2021 version).

MAPAMED (MArine Protected Areas in the MEDiterranean) is a cartographic database of key information on Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), potential Other Effective area-based Conservation Measure (OECMs), and more broadly on sites of interest for marine conservation. It is developed and administered jointly by UNEP/MAP-SPA/RAC and the MedPAN Association. For detailed information, please consult the MAPAMED user manual (April 2021 version).

The EU has established a robust and ambitious policy framework to address the multiple challenges facing its marine environment and to ensure a more sustainable ecosystem-based approach to the use of its marine resources. The Habitats and Birds Directives, along with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, are the environmental pillar of the wider Integrated Maritime Policy. They are also at the heart of the EU’s contribution to international efforts, including the four Regional Seas Conventions (HELCOM, OSPAR, Barcelona, Black Sea) and the Ocean Governance agenda. The total coverage of EU seas covered by marine protected areas has more than doubled in the last six years, primarily due to the expansion of the Natura 2000 network – the largest coordinated network of conservation areas in the world. The Habitats Directive lists nine marine habitat types and 16 species for which marine site designation is required, whilst the Birds Directive lists a further 60 bird species whose conservation requires marine site protection. To date (end 2018), more than 3150 marine Natura 2000 sites have been designated, which cover almost 10% of the total EU marine area (over 550,000 km2). These areas are recollected into MAPAMED which is a cartographic database of key information on Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) potential Other Effective área-based Conservation Measure (OECMs), and more broadly on sites of interest for marine conservation. It is developed and administered jointly by UNEP/MAP-SPA/RAC and the MedPAN Association. For detailed information, please consult the MAPAMED user manual (April 2021 version).

The EU has established a robust and ambitious policy framework to address the multiple challenges facing its marine environment and to ensure a more sustainable ecosystem-based approach to the use of its marine resources. The Habitats and Birds Directives, along with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, are the environmental pillar of the wider Integrated Maritime Policy. They are also at the heart of the EU’s contribution to international efforts, including the four Regional Seas Conventions (HELCOM, OSPAR, Barcelona, Black Sea) and the Ocean Governance agenda. The proposed sites are recollected into MAPAMED which is a cartographic database of key information on Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) potential Other Effective área-based Conservation Measure (OECMs), and more broadly on sites of interest for marine conservation. It is developed and administered jointly by UNEP/MAP-SPA/RAC and the MedPAN Association. For detailed information, please consult the MAPAMED user manual (April 2021 version).

The Marine Protected Area Protection Framework (MaPAF; Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al., 2016) was adapted to update progress on the protection of Pelagos Sanctuary marine biodiversity. Accordingly, protection was conceived as an additive process entailing two complementary factors: 1. Legal protection and 2. Managerial protection. Legal protection was assessed through two indicators: 1.1. Legal designation (this specific layer), contributing to protection coverage targets, and 1.2. Regulation stringency, contributing to strict protection targets. Managerial protection was assessed via two indicators: 2.1. Existence of a management authority for the site, and 2.2. Existence of a management plan that is fully implemented. Both indicators are expected to contribute to effective Marine Protected Areas & Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) management targets. Thus, a site can be legally protected (typically, an MPA), by management measures (e.g. an OECM), attaining different degrees of conservation to their biodiversity. Therefore, a site that has been endowed a stringent legal designation category which has an appointed managerial authority that fully implements the site’s management plan is assumed to have greater protection than a site with opposite characteristics.

The Marine Protected Area Protection Framework (MaPAF; Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al., 2016) was adapted to update progress on the protection of Pelagos Sanctuary marine biodiversity. Accordingly, protection was conceived as an additive process entailing two complementary factors: 1. Legal protection and 2. Managerial protection. Legal protection was assessed through two indicators: 1.1. Legal designation, contributing to protection coverage targets, and 1.2. Regulation stringency, contributing to strict protection targets. Managerial protection was assessed via two indicators: 2.1. Existence of a management authority for the site, and 2.2. Existence of a management plan that is fully implemented (this layer). Both indicators are expected to contribute to effective Marine Protected Areas & Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) management targets. Thus, a site can be legally protected (typically, an MPA), by management measures (e.g. an OECM), attaining different degrees of conservation to their biodiversity. Therefore, a site that has been endowed a stringent legal designation category which has an appointed managerial authority that fully implements the site’s management plan is assumed to have greater protection than a site with opposite characteristics.

The Pelagos Sanctuary is a marine area of 87,500 sq. km subject to an agreement between Italy, Monaco and France for the protection of marine mammals, which live in it. What makes the Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean Marine Mammals unique is the fact that it is a site managed by three different authorities and includes coastal areas and international waters that form a large ecosystem of major scientific, socio-economic, cultural and educational interest. The entire Sanctuary can be broadly considered to be a biogeographically distinct sub-section of the Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) that is the Mediterranean. This sub-section is marked by greater productivity caused by a variety of mechanisms of fertilization enhancing the level of primary production: coastal waters, the delayed effect of winter mixing, the frontal area, upwelling phenomena and complex structures that combine divergent and convergent features. However, the biodiversity within this sub-section of the Marine Ecosystem of Great Dimension Mediterranean undergoes the combined pressure of natural environmental fluctuations and human impacts. This área is recollected into MAPAMED which is a cartographic database of key information on Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) potential Other Effective área-based Conservation Measure (OECMs), and more broadly on sites of interest for marine conservation. It is developed and administered jointly by UNEP/MAP-SPA/RAC and the MedPAN Association. For detailed information, please consult the MAPAMED user manual (April 2021 version).

The global coverage of marine protected areas (MPAs) is 7.68%. The Global Ocean can be divided into areas within national jurisdiction (National Waters) and those in international waters (Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ)). MPAs can be more easily created by governments in national waters where there are dedicated legal systems in place. In ABNJ it is more difficult to create MPAs due to the complex legal framework in place. As such, the percentage of MPAs created within national waters is much higher than that for ABNJ. National waters represent 39% of the global ocean and at present, 17.86% of these waters are designated as protected areas. In contrast, only 1.18% of ABNJ, which makes up the remaining 61% of the global ocean, has been established as protected areas. At present, international discussions are underway to establish ways of simplifying the process to create MPAs in ABNJ. For more information on this, please see the DOALOS website. These areas are recollected into MAPAMED which is a cartographic database of key information on Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) potential Other Effective área-based Conservation Measure (OECMs), and more broadly on sites of interest for marine conservation. It is developed and administered jointly by UNEP/MAP-SPA/RAC and the MedPAN Association. For detailed information, please consult the MAPAMED user manual (April 2021 version).

The Marine Protected Area Protection Framework (MaPAF; Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al., 2016) was adapted to update progress on the protection of Pelagos Sanctuary marine biodiversity. Accordingly, protection was conceived as an additive process entailing two complementary factors: 1. Legal protection and 2. Managerial protection. Legal protection was assessed through two indicators: 1.1. Legal designation, contributing to protection coverage targets, and 1.2. Regulation stringency (this specific layer), contributing to strict protection targets. Managerial protection was assessed via two indicators: 2.1. Existence of a management authority for the site, and 2.2. Existence of a management plan that is fully implemented. Both indicators are expected to contribute to effective Marine Protected Areas & Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) management targets. Thus, a site can be legally protected (typically, an MPA), by management measures (e.g. an OECM), attaining different degrees of conservation to their biodiversity. Therefore, a site that has been endowed a stringent legal designation category which has an appointed managerial authority that fully implements the site’s management plan is assumed to have greater protection than a site with opposite characteristics.

The Marine Protected Area Protection Framework (MaPAF; Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al., 2016) was adapted to update progress on the protection of Pelagos Sanctuary marine biodiversity. Accordingly, protection was conceived as an additive process entailing two complementary factors: 1. Legal protection and 2. Managerial protection. Legal protection was assessed through two indicators: 1.1. Legal designation, contributing to protection coverage targets, and 1.2. Regulation stringency, contributing to strict protection targets. Managerial protection was assessed via two indicators: 2.1. Existence of a management authority for the site (this layer), and 2.2. Existence of a management plan that is fully implemented. Both indicators are expected to contribute to effective Marine Protected Areas & Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) management targets. Thus, a site can be legally protected (typically, an MPA), by management measures (e.g. an OECM), attaining different degrees of conservation to their biodiversity. Therefore, a site that has been endowed a stringent legal designation category which has an appointed managerial authority that fully implements the site’s management plan is assumed to have greater protection than a site with opposite characteristics.