PAP/RAC successful at Focal Points meeting

Joint Meeting of the National Focal Points of BP/RAC, ERS/RAC and PAP/RAC was held in Nice, 12-15 May 2005. The main objective of the meeting was to review the activities undertaken by each RAC in 2004-2005, to discuss the Programme of work for the biennium 2006-2007 and to present and discuss some RAC specific projects. In the case of PAP/RAC two important items were discussed, namely the draft Protocol for coastal zone management in the Mediterranean and an outline of the ICAM and CAMP Strategy.

PAP/RAC work in the current biennium was very well received and lots of warm congratulations and positive feedbecks were received from all participants who underlined the expansion and the amount of activities undertaken by rather limited human and other resources. The Programme for the next biennium was also appreciated and no major critics or amendments were proposed.
The draft ICAM Protocol was also welcomed and majority of speakers considered this project to be a very important initiative and commended the highly professional quality of the draft. Some reservations and suggestions for improvements were also expressed, which will assist PAP/RAC in finalising the document for the Contracting Parties in November 2005.

As far as the outline of the Strategy for ICAM, many FPs welcomed the very clear structure and organisation of the document. The main question that arose concerned the relationship between this particular Strategy, the MSSD and the ICZM Strategy called for in the draft Protocol. It was decided that this document would guide the work of PAP/RAC in the promotion of ICAM in the Mediterranean, and it would be reviewed once the Mediterranean Strategy called for in the draft Protocol had been adopted and that it would then be appended to the MSSD.

The Report of the meeting is supposed to be shortly provided by the MAP Secretariat.