SPNL and Municipality of Anfeh join The MedPAN network

Despite the challenges of this very special year for all of us, 6 new members and 4 new partners have joined the MedPAN network in 2020.

New members

  • Public Institution Natura Histrica (Croatia)
  • Public Institution for Management of Nature protected areas in the area of Split-Dalmatia County – Sea and Karst (Croatia)
  • Management Body of the Cyclades Protected Areas (Greece)
  • Management Agency of Schinias – Marathon National Park, Mount. Hemetus and Southeast Attica region (Greece)
  • Regional Park of Conero (Italy)
  • Municipality of Anfeh (Lebanon)

New partners (1)

  • Sharklab ADRIA – Center for marine and freshwater biology (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
  • Enalia Physis – Environmental Research Centre (Cyprus)
  • Miraceti (France)
  • Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (Lebanon)

(1) Members are directly approved by the Board of Directors that gathers about once a month. The Board also selects the partners that will be officially approved by MedPAN members during the General Assembly on 19 November 2020.

Back on 22 September 2017 Anfeh’s municipal council declared the village and its sea as Hima.
Anfeh is located on the coast of northern Lebanon and is 15 km south of Tripoli and 71 km north of Beirut. The town is extended to the west by a 400-meter promontory, oriented on an east–west axis. Standing about 14 m above sea level, the site has visible Greco-Roman and medieval remains everywhere. Basins, vaults, presses, tanks and quarry pipes, and the remains of mosaic pavements on top of the promontory. Several other mosaics reported by local residents have been uncovered in various locations underneath the modern town, which extends further south of the promontory.

The municipal council of Anfeh Hima accord will help SPNL and its partners to increase the awareness of the importance of cultural heritage (on-land and maritime aspects of culture) by promoting the value of Anfeh’s natural environment, safeguarding the authentically unique, traditional, and irreplaceable character of Anfeh, building rapport with the local community, creating job opportunities, enhancing and promoting local facilities, fisheries and guest houses, and training local guides to grasp the historical developments of their town.

MedPAN is the network of Marine Protected Areas managers in the Mediterranean.

It gathers today 131 institutions and NGOs from 21 Mediterranean countries that either have direct responsibility for managing Marine Protected Areas (MPA) or are involved in the development of MPAs in the Mediterranean.

These players manage or work with over 110 MPAS in 19 Mediterranean countries.

The MedPAN network’s mission is to promote, through a partnership approach, the sustainability and operation of a network of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean which are ecologically representative, connected and effectively managed to help reduce the current rate of marine biodiversity loss.

The activities of the network revolve around 3 strategic components

  1. Be a network for knowledge, information, anticipation and synthesis
  2. Develop the life of the network, the exchanges between its members and their capacity to effectively manage their MPAs in link with the other players in their territories.
  3. Reinforce the sustainability, prominence, governance and resources of the MedPAN network.

The activities carried out by the network are the result of a strong coordination between its members and partners so as to ensure effectiveness and reach.

Key players in the Mediterranean such as RAC / SPA of the United Nations Environment Programme, WWF, the Conservatoire du Littoral, IUCN Mediterranean, the French Agency for Marine Protected Areas, ACCOBAMS and GFCM are partners of the network and are working together to synchronise their activities. The MedPAN organisation, which coordinates the MedPAN network has a unifying and dissemination role and also has its own activities on certain themes. Some key actions:

The network exists since the 90s. It is run since 2010 by the MedPAN organisation, a permanent structure with dedicated funds established in late 2008.