Preamble

We are citizens from 17 countries, both within and outside the European Community. We are united by our common concern for the destiny of the Mediterranean Sea and its surrounding coasts The Mediterranean is the meeting place of three continents, it is the common resource of eighteen countries, the source of culture, leisure and wealth to over 100 million Mediterraneans and 100 million annual visitors from elsewhere. It is also the home of a unique flora and fauna linked together in a fragile ecosystem that is the repository of a genetic diversity as distinctive and important for the future of mankind as the cultural heritage with which we have already been bestowed.

We are aware of, and appreciate, the achievements of the participating governments in sustaining the effort to protect the Mediterranean incorporated into the Barcelona Convention and its protocols. We recognise the Instrumental role of the United Nations Environment Programme in launching this initiative as part of its Regional Seas programme and welcome its continued involvement In the development of Mediterranean protection. We were glad to note the accession of the European Community as a contracting party to the Barcelona Convention. We congratulate all those concerned in overcoming the many difficulties in establishing the framework for cooperation contained in the Barcelona Convention. To achieve a measure of unity on complex issues in the face of such Great cultural, economic and political differences should not be underestimated and again places the Mediterranean and its people in the forefront of human affairs. Our goals as non-governmental organizations concerned with the Mediterranean are:

· to prevent the further deterioration of Mediterranean ecosystems

· to promote appropriate and timely responses to acute threats

· to protect valuable habitats, endangered species and genetic diversity

· to protect monuments and historical sites

· to protect landscapes

· to promote and protect the unique Mediterranean cultural heritage and its associated quality of life In the pursuit of these goals we have organised between us hundreds of public lectures conferences. seminars open discussions round tables and other forms of directly Informing interested groups and the wider public on the state of the Mediterranean. We have prepared and distributed films, film-strips TV-spots and other visual material to schools. local groups radio and TV-stations. Pamphlets books and posters have been printed and distributed exhibitions prepared and sheen Demonstrations interventions, proposals, appeals and recommendations to Governments have been made. Legislation and monitoring programs have been proposed. Areas to be protected nave been identified, surveyed, mapped, monitored or even on occasion acquired. Pilot schemes on such matters as reforestation restoration of monuments and the Introduction of clean technologies have been carried out. These have been our offering to the Mediterranean peoples and our contribution to the protection of the Mediterranean environment.

Our purposes in meeting in Brussels, just prior to the inter-governmental meeting of the Barcelona Convention countries are:

· to better inform ourselves on the present status of the Mediterranean environment

· to evaluate the role NGOs have played in protecting the areas and to discuss new ways and methods to increase the activity of Mediterranean NGOs

· to identify those areas in which the EEC, UNEP and the Governments of Mediterranean countries were failing to act or to act with sufficient speed

· to further encourage the European Community to show its concern for the Mediterranean in visible and concrete ways.

As a result of these deliberations we have come to some conclusions and recommendations which we, as citizens of Europe and the Mediterranean, free of political or national bias,  wish to communicate to you with urgency.

Conclusions

1. The single largest obstacle to the adequate protection of the Mediterranean environment is the lack of public awareness, on the part of the citizens of the Mediterranean countries, of the nature of the threats to their well-being, livelihood and heritage and of the ways in which they could contribute actively to reducing and removing those threats. Without a high level of public awareness on the issues and their remedies it is difficult, if not impossible for Governments or regional and international institutions to take effective and timely action.

2. In this context. we have been disappointed by the failure to translate intentions into concrete results. The passing of legislation is only the first step in transforming the problem. far too often it has also been the last. Many Governments have taken little or no action to establish the necessary infrastructure or allocate the necessary funds to fulfil their obligations to the spirit of Barcelona.

3. Although we welcome the involvement of the European Community in Mediterranean affairs we are conscious that the policy of the Community institutions towards the Mediterranean still contains deep contradictions. We recognise that no practical policy is likely to be completely consistent. but too often the policy of Community institutions on agriculture and development investment more than takes away with one hand what the policy on the environment is giving with the other

4. A unique opportunity exists for the rest of the U.N. system to support UNEP's initiatives with enthusiasm. Particularly for the non-EEC Mediterranean countries the availability of international funds is an essential condition for the implementation of the Barcelona Convention. UNEP is not. nor was ever intended as, a fund disbursing agency. Other U.N. agencies however. in particular, FAO, UNDP, UNESCO and WHO could contribute a great deal more than they' are doing for the protection of the Mediterranean.

Recommendations

1. UNEP should intensify its efforts to encourage the Barcelona Convention countries to sign. ratify

and implement other international conventions pertaining to the protection of the Mediterranean. This is particularly important in the case of Mediterranean wetlands which should be designated under the Ramsar Convention. It should publish a regular report on the obstacles to implementation of the Barcelona and other relevant conventions.

2. UNEP and the EEC should review their relations with the NGOs in the light of conclusion 1 above and develop more systematic mechanisms to facilitate the flow of information and funds to NGOs, particularly those from the non-EEC countries where needs and opportunities are greatest. Furthermore, UNEP and the EEC should jointly with the NGOs establish a Mediterranean Action Day to provide a common focus for action to stimulate public awareness. 3. EEC Governments must give greater urgency to the adoption of the Integrated Mediterranean

Programmes' (COM(83)24) which have already been under discussion for more than 18 months. 4. EEC Governments must also place a higher priority on the implementation of the provisions in the Third Action Programme on the Environment calling for the integration of the environment with other policies. In this respect the adaptation of the Agricultural Structures Directive along the lines proposed by the British Government would greatly facilitate such integration. Furthermore. the application of environmental impact assessment procedures to projects financed by the European institutions must be hastened. UNEP should complement these efforts by bringing forward proposals for a new protocol to the Convention incorporating an environmental impact assessment procedure for major developments including off-shore oil drilling.

5. The EEC must put more effort into giving practical assistance to UNEP efforts to implement the Mediterranean Action Plan by way of funds, services and help-in-kind.

6 The EEC should amend its regulation (O.J.1872/84) on the criteria relating to actions to protect the environment in order to permit the financing of the protection of animals such as the monk seal and Corsican red deer and threatened plant species.

7. UNEP. the EEC and the participating Governments should urgently set in motion a process to establish a legal regime on Mediterranean antiquities and works of art which establishes the rights of originating countries to the return of stolen antiquities.

8. UNEP, the EEC and the participating Governments should investigate the establishment of regional centres for the treatment of toxic wastes.

9. UNEP, the EEC and the participating Governments should call a meeting of the National Tourist Boards of Mediterranean and EEC countries to discuss the ways in which tourists may be better educated on their impact upon and responsibility towards the Mediterranean and further to discuss ways of reducing and minimising the impact.

10. UNEP, the EEC and the participating Governments should take steps to encourage replication of the initiative of the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (HELMEPA).

11. We call upon the Governments of all countries with military vessels and aircraft using the Mediterranean to voluntarily observe the provisions of the Barcelona Convention.

12. The further development of a common forestry policy within the EEC should take account of the need to protect typical Mediterranean forests, habitats and vegetation coverage and other EEC funds and agencies with an interest in forestry should ensure that their activities do no further damage to this important eco-system.

13. We call upon the Governments of all Mediterranean countries to outlaw indiscriminate or mass killing of migratory birds and to establish protected areas for them. We further call upon the Governments to ratify the Bonn and Berne Conventions and to implement their requirements in national law.

14. In implementing the fourth protocol of the Barcelona Convention, participating Governments the EEC and UNEP must encourage better acquaintances with biological indicators and pay particular attention to the protection of possidonia meadows.