Important Plant Areas of the south and east Mediterranean ... - IUCN

Important Plant Areas of the south and east Mediterranean region. Priority sites for conservation
IPAs in the south and east Mediterranean region
SECTION 2
17
Protection
The level of official protection for the IPAs identified varies across the project
countries from 0 – 80%. Protection can be in the form of protected areas
such as National Parks or internationally important wetland (Ramsar) sites
or as natural monuments. In Albania over 80% of the IPAs are protected or
recognised as important sites for nature in some way. Many IPAs in Morocco,
Tunisia and Algeria are also National Parks, in the Middle East countries the
situation is less clear but official protection of IPAs is not as comprehensive.
Official protection of sites can be helpful but a truer measure of whether a
site is properly managed or not can be measured through evidence of site
based conservation activity, often linked to a recognised management plan.
Evidence of management plans for IPAs is minimal, 6 sites in Egypt, 3 in
Syria and 2 in Lebanon do have active management plans.
IPAs are fully or
partially within
national parks /
protected areas
Management
plans available
TOTAL
Morocco
Algeria
Tunisia
Libya
Egypt
Israel
Palestine
Lebanon
Syria
97 6 8 13 2 12 - 0 11 7 38
11 6 2 3
Figures for Jordan unavailable.
[Table. 4] Protection of IPAs in the Mediterranean project countries
Albania
Rural landscape and wetland in a
Ramsar zone of El Kala National Park
Algeria
© Michel Gunther / WWF-Canon
“The level of official
protection for the IPAs
identified varies across
the project countries
from 0 – 80%.
Protection can be in the
form of protected areas
such as National Parks or
internationally important
wetland (Ramsar) sites or
as natural monuments”