It has become tradition in the Mediterranean to celebrate the Coast Day after it had first been organised in 2007. Its main purpose is to raise awareness of the importance of the coast as both natural and economic resource, as well as to warn of the risks it is exposed to due to natural phenomena and human actions. ICZM is extensively promoted as the optimal policy framework for achieving sustainable development of coastal areas. Thus, September 25 was chosen as the Mediterranean Coast Day to honour the date when Slovenia ratified the ICZM Protocol as the first Mediterranean country to do so. Last year\’s central Mediterranean celebration, hosted by Algeria, was organised around the ICZM Protocol entering into force. This unique and highly important document is a result of great efforts made by the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) and its Priority Actions Programme Regional Activity Centre (PAP/RAC), and represents the crowning glory of many years of dedicated work in the field of environmental protection in the Mediterranean within the Barcelona Convention.

Each year the central Mediterranean celebration is organised in a different country, while other countries organise their own events. Thus, in 2007 and 2008 the central celebration was organised in Sardinia, Italy. In 2009 the host to the central celebration was Turkey, in 2010 Slovenia and in 2011 Algeria. You can read more about the central celebrations in the “News” section, as well as about the national events. Much attention is paid to attracting attention of as wide an audience as possible, ranging from decision-makers, over coastal practitioners, scientific community and private sector to children and adolescents. A number of various promotional material has been prepared and widely distributed including brochures, leaflets, CDs and video materials. Good media coverage was also secured.

This year, the regional Mediterranean celebration will take place in Split, the city where PAP/RAC, the MAP Centre in charge of ICZM, is located. It will be co-organised with UNDP Croatia and its COAST project. As every year, the main event will take place on September 25 but activities will be extended over the whole week. The theme of the celebration will be “The Voice of the Coast”. Please, watch this space for updates on this year’s event.