The Consultative Workshop on ICAM Protocol that took place in Oristano, Sardinia, 24-25 June 2005 was very fruitfull. It was attended by 42 participants from 14 countries and the EU, all the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention. Present were also representatives of the Region of Sardinia, Province of Oristano, the IMC - International Marine Centre, the Institute of Marine Sciences, SIL - Oristano and the AMP of Sinis Mal di Ventre, all from Sardinia, University of Venice, MEDU and ERS/RAC.
The first day, the draft Protocol was presented and discussed "part by part". Participants provided the meeting with valuable comments and suggestions on how to improve the draft text. In general, there was a great consensus about the proposed provisions, however, proposals were made for some clarifications and/or better balance of the text in some articles, or for more flexibility to be left for the countries were given, for example when defining the terrestrial part of the coastal zone.
The second day, thirteen (13) countries presented the answers of an "Early Screening Test" distributed to participants some weeks before the workshop in order to provide some written inputs and opinions about applicability and implementability of some specific provisions in their countries. Very good proposals and comments were provided, which will be taken into account when finalising the draft Protocol in the months to come. The workshop, in its last part, was devoted to the case of the Region of Sardinia. Presentations and the discussion provided some good input for the Protocol from the regional (i.e. sub-national) level of authority point of view. The Report will be available soon.