Hello,

I am Ibrahim Boubekri (email address: ibrahim.boubekri@io-warnemuende.de), a post-doc researcher in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) at the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde – IOW (www.io-warnemuende.de/en_index.html).

All human beings are dependent on ecosystems for their economic and social well-being. Such contributions that people derive from ecosystems are called Ecosystem Services (ESs). They are usually classified as provisioning services (e.g., food), regulating services (e.g., carbon sequestration, water purification, etc.), and cultural services (e.g., recreation and aesthetic experiences). MPAs are associated with many ESs. Also, the sustainability and resilience of the European Union's (EU) fisheries has become a core focus of the European Commission agendas, formalized by the launch, in June 2024, of a consultation to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Protecting marine ecosystems is part of the Commission’s efforts to achieve a more consistent implementation of the EU’s environmental policy and the CFP with its three sustainability pillars – environmental, economic, and social. In order to quantify the policy relevance of marine conservation, it is important to quantify how MPAs may help achieve sustainable fisheries.

I thus invite all marine conservation experts across the whole Mediterranean Basin to fill this questionnaire that will allow evaluating how Mediterranean MPAs relate to ESs and the sustainable management of fisheries.

I am undertaking this study with the aim to publish the research in an international scientific journal and to disseminate the results within the community of stakeholders involved with MPA work in the Mediterranean Sea and other regional Seas (e.g., Baltic Sea).

This survey will take 15-20 minutes to complete.

Throughout this survey we are using the term 'Marine Protected Area' (MPA) as per the IUCN definition:

"A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated, and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values" (IUCN, 2018).

IUCN-WCPA, 2018. Applying IUCN’s Global Conservation Standards to Marine Protected Areas (MPA). Delivering effective conservation action through MPAs, to secure ocean health & sustainable development. Version 1.0. Gland, Switzerland. 4pp