Risks from maritime traffic to biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: identification of issues and possible responses

This document is the result of discussions among a large number of experts on maritime issues in the Mediterranean Sea and draws on the conclusions of a workshop held in Istanbul in September 20071. The discussions were informed in part by a series of papers subsequently published by IUCN as Maritime traffi c effects on biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea. Volume 1: Review of impacts, priority areas and mitigation measures (Ameer Abdulla and Olof Lindén, eds); Volume 2: Legal mechanisms to address maritime impacts on Mediterranean biodiversity (Nilufer Oral and François Simard, eds) Gland, Switzerland and Málaga, Spain: IUCN, 2008. Financial support for this initiative was provided by the Italian Government, in response to Resolution 3.070 of the Third IUCN World Conservation Congress (Bangkok, 2004). The ideas expressed here do not necessarily refl ect the offi cial position of IUCN.