Marine Litter MED PLUS

March 2024 – February 2027 Mars 2024 – février 2027 (36 months)

Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, with a focus on Southern Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia).

Background

The Marine Litter MED PLUS project focuses on marine litter in the Mediterranean.

It builds on the results and lessons learned from previous projects on the same topic, also funded by the European Union:

Marine Litter I (2016–2019)
Marine Litter II (2020–2023)

Objectives

The aim of the project is to support further and expand the implementation of the updated Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean. It also aims to support the upgrade of Ecological Objective 10 (EO10- Marine Litter) of the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP) for the Mediterranean Sea and Coast, including its Candidate Common Indicator 24.

Activities

The main activities of SPA/RAC in the framework of this project are:

Supporting the national development and implementation of the IMAP Candidate Indicator 24 monitoring programme (Trends in the amount of litter ingested by or entangling marine organisms focusing on selected mammals, marine birds, and marine turtles) in Algeria, Egypt, and Libya.
Strengthening national capacities for monitoring IMAP Candidate Indicator 24.
Supporting the submission of data related to IMAP Candidate Indicator 24 to the IMAP InfoSystem.
Assisting in the transformation of IMAP Candidate Indicator 24 into an IMAP Common Indicator.

Partners and funding

The Marine Litter MED PLUS project activities are implemented by the UNEP/MAP Barcelona Convention Secretariat in collaboration with its Components: MEDPOL, MedWaves, SPA/RAC, and REMPEC.

The Marine Litter MED PLUS Project is supported by the European Commission and by UNEP/MAP through the Mediterranean Trust Fund (MTF).