On 22 September 2026, PAP/RAC took part in Nice (France) in the 3rd workshop of the Adapt-Pelagos project, organised by Plan Bleu and dedicated to carrying capacity in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The workshop brought together around fifteen scientific and institutional actors and MPA managers, including the Permanent Secretariat of the Pelagos Agreement, ACCOBAMS, MedPAN, Ifremer, the Portofino MPA, the Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur and the Sardinia Region.
In a context of high tourist pressure and growing threats to marine ecosystems, the discussions explored the ecological, social, tourism and governance dimensions of carrying capacity. Participants shared concrete methodologies to measure pressures and define management thresholds adapted to the Pelagos Sanctuary, along with experiences on yachting management, biodiversity and cetacean monitoring, coastal pressure surveillance and ecosystem health indicators.
PAP/RAC contributed with a presentation on the involvement of stakeholders in Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) processes, drawing on the area management tool activity carried out in Djerba.
In the afternoon, an interactive Policy Lab allowed participants to work together on three main challenges for the Sanctuary: ecological carrying capacity, human uses and tourism, and governance and monitoring. Possible actions emerged on reducing the risk of collisions with cetaceans, regulating anchoring, deploying ecological buoys, harmonising data and strengthening cooperation between France, Italy and Monaco.