Report | June 11, 2015

Scientific Information to Describe Areas Meeting Scientific Criteria for Mediterranean EBSAs

In this report, 37 marine sites are described to contribute on the identification of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) in the Mediterranean Sea in order to follow requirements under the Barcelona Convention (decision IG.21/5) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (decision X/29) 1 . Oceana has identified these sites mainly because of the occuerrence of species listed as protected (under several international Conventions or Reference Lists) or due to the presence of sensitive and/or essential habitats. When scientific information is either scarce or not available, several features are included due to its affection by the main circulation (mesoescale) patterns to ensure the connectivity within marine subregions in a potential MPA network.

The information provided through this document is an essential part of the Oceana MedNet project. Since it was launched, when possible, the information has been updated to feed the project and now to develop the current report. The MedNet proposal contains one hundred sites aiming to reach the Aichi Target 112 and it is mainly focused in covering the current gap in offshore protection in the Mediterranean Sea. As the proposal is mainly based on the seafloor geomorphology, a high fraction is represented by seamounts and submarine canyons, although many other features were added (mud volcanos, gyres, cold seeps, etc.) during the design process.