Environmental Issues In The Mediterranean

The Mediterranean has been subject to changing human settlement and land use patterns for millennia, and has a history of human exploitation in an inherently unstable landscape. Environmental Issues in the Mediterranean reviews both physical and social aspects of this region, in relation to its environment. Ideal for students who are studying a range of environmental issues, but want to see them linked within one regional context. The book begins with an introduction to the Mediterranean region, its history, physical and human geography and its environmental problems. It then goes on to examine: * The Dynamic Environment - climate variables and fluctuations, vegetation, the hydrological cycle of the basin and its watershed, processes of erosion, fire and the Mediterranean Sea *The Human Impact on the Environment - prehistoric and historic land use, traditional agriculture, rural and urban settlement and use of mineral resources * The Mediterranean Environment Under Increasing Pressure - the present human landscape, changes in agriculture in the 20th century, the impact of depopulation, pollution, water resources, desertification and potential climatic change. It then concludes with a discussion of the region's on-going environmental issues of water resources, land degradation, agricultural intensification and tourism, and considers how these can be approached using management techniques and national and regional policies.

Examines the Mediterranean Action Plan from 1972 to 1987 as a successful international effort to coordinate the marine pollution control practices of the Mediterranean littoral countries through regional treaties, coordinated research and monitoring, integrated policies, and administrative and budge

The Environmental Program for the Mediterranean (EPM) assesses the nature and the extent of the environmental problems in the Mediterranean Basin. It leads to recommendations for short- to medium-term actions. Policies, institutional measures, technical assistance and investment project proposals are necessary to ameliorate such problems. The EPM emphasizes the economic and financial implications of environmental protection. It suggests ways in which the countries of the region can achieve the high-priority environmental investments that are recommended. The case is made for greater efforts from the international aid community to assist the Mediterranean countries in this endeavor. The EPM is a common initiative launched in 1988 by the European Investment Bank and by the World Bank. The World Bank has economic development as its main objective. The Bank has lent for development projects since 1946, primarily in the developing countries of the Third World. The EIB's main task, under Article 130 of the Treaty of Rome, is to contribute to the balanced development of the European Community, another of its priorities is the protection of the environment. The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) derives its legal status from an Act of Parliament of 1930 on applied scientific research in the Netherlands. It is a fully independent R & D organization and currently has a staff of about 5,100 and a turnover of more than 370 million U.S. dollars a year. Studies by TNO are carried out in a number of institutes and laboratories located throughout the Netherlands. TNO's primary task is to support technological innovation in trade and industry, government agencies and community groups. TNO also assists clients and sponsors in solving problems. It conducts consultancy and transfers knowledge and know-how to individual companies and sector groups. Know-how is obtained from TNO's own research or is generated through collaboration with universities and third parties. The present study is sponsored by the European Investment Bank in the framework of the EPM. The TNO report gives an overview of the environmental condition of the Mediterranean, especially that of EC Mediterranean countries. It also estimates the environmental investment requirements for sewage treatment plants, river basin management, port reception facilities other environmental protection measures.

To achieve desired territorial sustainability, it is necessary to fully understand all three spheres of sustainable development from different perspectives. The territories, ecosystems, and environments involved in Mediterranean landscapes environments are not an exception. In this regard, specific fields within this main subject should be studied in more detail such as management and conservation strategies, methods for environmental planning, environmental rights and legislation, provided ecosystems services, natural-based solutions, among many other areas Management and Conservation of Mediterranean Environments is a powerful scientific contribution to the issue of territorial sustainability and dynamics, challenges, and opportunities ongoing in Mediterranean landscapes. Chapters cover research in the fields of territorial governance and management, ecosystems, economic growth, sustainability, environmental pollution, and more. This book is a valuable reference tool for academicians, researchers, technicians, decision makers, policymakers, students, and any readers interested in sustainable development and the management of Mediterranean environments.

This volume provides specialized insights into selected Mediterranean geographies, such as info-communication technologies, tourism, urbanization and climate change threats, with a focus on emerging and often overlooked issues, in light of the impact of current trends of globalization and the financial ‘crisis’, in the broader context of contemporary world processes of environmental change and accelerated human mobility. Specifically, the book contains sections on emergent and increasingly significant or highly innovative issues specific to the Mediterranean, often providing alternative perspectives on various pressing issues, such as the northward shift of climatic types; littoralisation processes and urbanization trends; tourism growth problems; human exposure to environmental stresses; and the boom in info-communication technologies. As such this book provides new insights into a region that has absorbed the sustained impact of human growth in precarious environments, often at the interface of many worlds, co-existing at various states of development and inter-scalar or cross-border interrelationships. This volume does not cover every aspect of the human and physical geographies of the Mediterranean region, but rather addresses contemporary issues of increasing significance to the Mediterranean, with an emphasis on emergent and pressing issues, as well as new perspectives or methods of approach, of special relevance to the Mediterranean. The core of contributions to this volume originated from an initiative undertaken by the International Geographical Union (IGU) Mediterranean Renaissance Program, now the Commission on the Mediterranean Basin (COMB). Most papers are authored by members of the latter Commission and additional papers are included, in order to cover more aspects of contemporary Mediterranean geographies.

This book addresses six key factors that will affect environmental policies in the Mediterranean region during the next fifty years: population growth, climate change, soil erosion and desertification, water scarcity, food production, and urbanization and pollution. The authors assess these as potential sources of violent conflict. The interdisciplinary approach makes this a relevant and useful reference for a broad range of professionals, specialists and researchers.

This book has been published by Allenvi (French National Alliance for Environmental Research) to coincide with the 22nd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) in Marrakesh. It is the outcome of work by academic researchers on both sides of the Mediterranean and provides a remarkable scientific review of the mechanisms of climate change and its impacts on the environment, the economy, health and Mediterranean societies. It will also be valuable in developing responses that draw on “scientific evidence” to address the issues of adaptation, resource conservation, solutions and risk prevention. Reflecting the full complexity of the Mediterranean environment, the book is a major scientific contribution to the climate issue, where various scientific considerations converge to break down the boundaries between disciplines.

'Here's a work arriving just at the right moment and contributingnew insights at precisely the time when public opinion remains sceptical of the not very promising future we are preparing for our children, when governments balk at explaining to their electorates the vital but unpopular decisions that have to be taken and when civil society, with few ways and means, is finally becoming involved. This remarkable work will help all actors to understand the inter-linkages between economic activities and the environment in the Mediterranean Basin and take concerted, effective action to build a positive, sustainable future' Mohamed Ennabli, former Minister of the Environment and Land Use Panning, Tunisia 'The Blue Plan has carried out a remarkable assessment of the serious environmental probems and insufficiently targeted cooperation in the Mediterranean, and also of new financing systems to be implemented, which would increase the capacities of local authorities and economic and social partners' Georges Corm, former Minister of Finance, Lebanon The Mediterranean Basin and its surrounding countries is a microcosm of the environmental and sustainability challenges facing people across the world. Depending on the development path it takes in the future, the region can either become a positive model for the regional regulation of globalization, or, more onerously, it might reinforce global instability. This unique volume is the definitive, authoritative assessment of the environment and development of the Mediterranean Basin and its 22 countries and territories, spanning five decades from 30 years in the past to 20 years into the future. Produced by the Blue Plan within the framework of UNEP/Mediterranean Action Plan and backed by the EU and national governments, it brings together the work of more than 100 researchers from dozens of national, regional and local governments and research groups into the only comprehensive insight into sustainable development issues in the region. Core coverage includes water, energy, transport, cities, rural and coastal areas, as well as related issues such as climate change, population growth, geopolitical changes, unemployment and poverty, pollution, economic and environmental policies, regional cooperation and the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. Information is clearly presented through hundreds of full-colour maps, graphs, tables and a wealth of case studies. This is a must-have reference for all levels of government, NGOs and libraries, as well as practitioners, academics and businesses involved in economics, natural resource management, land and maritime transport, water, energy, infrastructure, urban and rural development, agriculture, fishing and aquaculture, tourism and coastal management. Countries and territories covered: Spain, France, Italy, Monaco, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Preface by Lucien Chabason, Chairman of the Blue Plan.