| Latest Regional Programme news |
|---|
| Coast Day celebrations to raise awareness |
| Thursday, 18 October 2007 |
 On Wednesday, October 24 2007, events will be taking place all around the Mediterranean in support of Coast Day, which is dedicated to promoting the vision of the future coast and sustainable coastal development. It is a key event in a major campaign on the value of the coast that aims to raise the awareness of policy makers and public alike of the value of the coast and the necessity of using an integrated approach to managing coastal areas.
Although relatively small, coastal areas are considered to be the most valuable part of national territories in most of Mediterranean countries and world-wide. According to the latest Blue Plan Report on Environment and Development in the Mediterranean, coastal regions occupy 12% of the national territory but are inhabited by 33% of the population. The Mediterranean is a destination for about one third of the world’s tourists.
Coast Day will look ahead to a vision of a future coast, which should be resilient to climate change, extreme storms, earthquakes, erosion, tourism and urban development. It should be productive financially, supporting the economic aspirations of the coastal community, providing a competitive asset to the local economy, increasing GDP and alleviating poverty. The future coast should also be ecologically diverse, while retaining the cultural distinctiveness of different areas, including their architecture, customs and landscapes, attractive to visitors, investors and local people, and free from pollution, providing a healthy environment for people, fisheries and wildlife.
October 24 will be an opportunity to remind everyone of the necessity of integrated planning and management for sustainable coastal development.
The main sponsors of the Coast Day initiative are the Regional Euro-Mediterranean Programme for the Environment (SMAP) and the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP). National NGO partners are responsible for the organisation and implementation of Coast Day activities in their countries. So far, thirteen countries have confirmed their participation: Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. For more information:
Coast Day website: http://www.coastday.org/
SMAP website: http://www.smaponline.net/ |
Selection of photos
This project is funded by the European Union.