On 3-4 April 2008, the town of Split hosted the second meeting of round tables organised by the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration within the Adriatic-Ionic Initiative to which Croatia assures the presidency this year. The meeting was attended by some 80 participants representing all member countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia. PAP/RAC was invited to the Round Table on Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development and the Round Sub-Table on Tourism.
The presentation of the Mediterranean Regional Protocol on ICZM made at the Round Table on Environment Protection and Sustainable Development attracted a great interest of the participants who were unanimous to support this innovative and unique legal instrument. They also expressed the wish that the other Round Tables be informed of the existence of this important instrument recently signed in Madrid among other by the governments of all the countries participating in the Adriatic-Ionic Initiative. This was done by the PAP/RAC representative who attended the Round Sub-Table on Sustainable Tourism to present PAP/RAC endeavours in promoting a more strategic planning approaches to tourism development in the Mediterranean with the view to secure a better integration of tourism with other coastal activities within the framework of ICZM. The message conveyed about the ICZM Protocol was welcomed and fully supported as a necessary instrument to protect the coastal environment on which tourism is highly dependent.
