55th meeting of the RAMOGE Commission

55ème Réunion RAMOGE

The RAMOGE* Agreement held the 55^th meeting of the RAMOGE Commission on Thursday 2 February 2023. The meeting was chaired by Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

It was an opportunity for the French, Italian and Monegasque delegations to provide an update on the progress of the activities set out in the two-year work plan for 2021 and 2022. During last year, the Agreement was able to fully restart its activities following the pandemic, pursuing numerous actions including:

• Organising a campaign to explore deep coastal regions from an oceanographic ship belonging to the Istituto Superiore per la protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA). This research mission will contribute important scientific data on the conservation status of areas of significant ecological interest, thereby helping to improve their protection;

• Organising a RAMOGEPOL anti-pollution exercise off the coast of Imperia, with mobilisation of some 15 aeronautical assets, including the Marine and Airport Police Division’s launch Princesse Gabriella, and the involvement of the Police Department’s Drone Unit.

• Holding a meeting of prosecutors from the RAMOGE region to discuss judicial cooperation between the three States on pollution;

• Organising an international photography competition, “RAMOGE – Man and the Sea”, which attracted a high level of participation: more than 3,300 photographs were received from nearly 600 photographers of 65 different nationalities. The winning photos are currently displayed on the railings in the Saint-Martin garden (until 28 February).

Members of the Commission also agreed the programme of work for the period 2023–2024. In addition to continuing with the majority of the above activities, some new actions are planned, including:

• Setting up a working group focused on reducing the impact of cruising and yachting by promoting the sharing of a charter to encourage sustainable and harmonised management of these activities in the RAMOGE region;

• Disseminating a report and videos to raise the awareness of the general public and secondary school pupils. These videos, based around the RAMOGE exploration campaigns, will highlight the challenges involved in understanding and protecting little-known areas of significant ecological interest;

• Raising awareness of Mediterranean heritage species (brown meagre, grouper, pinna nobilis, ribbed Mediterranean limpet, cystoseira), which are subject to specific monitoring under the Agreement through participatory science activities aimed at the public, and particularly at divers. On 24 March, RAMOGE is organising a conference on this subject at the Oceanographic Museum as part of Monaco Ocean Week.

At the end of the meeting, Isabelle Rosabrunetto, the Chair of the Commission, was keen to pay tribute to the Executive Secretary of the Agreement, Anne Vissio, for whom this was the last ex officio meeting, and handed the role of Chair over to H.E. Laurent Stefanini, the French Ambassador to Monaco, for the next two years. Pierre Bouchet from the Monegasque delegation took over as Chair of the Technical Committee from Tiziana Chieruzzi, a member of the Italian delegation.

* International cooperation agreement to preserve the coastline and marine environment between France, Monaco and Italy for the zone between Marseille and La Spezia.