RAMOGE AND PELAGOS AGREEMENTS: TOGETHER FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT

©AdrienPOQUET

The parties to the Pelagos and RAMOGE Agreements organised their first joint event on the preservation of the marine environment on Tuesday 15 October at the Sciences Po Paris Middle East and Mediterranean Campus in Menton.

Hosted by the French Riviera Conurbation Community (CARF), the event brought together the three countries which signed each Agreement as well as elected officials and representatives of communes which signed the Pelagos Partnership Charter. Managers from Marine Protected Areas and Natural Parks in the Pelagos Sanctuary and RAMOGE zone were also present, along with Pelagos Ambassadors and partners of the two Agreements.
The event was made possible by the active cooperation between the Secretariats of the RAMOS Agreement and Pelagos Agreement following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on 22 March at the close of Monaco Ocean Week 2024 in the presence of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.
In the morning, the Secretariats presented what they were doing to preserve the marine environment and reduce pollution in particular.
In the afternoon, participants attended one of two round table talks: one on initiatives led by regional authorities and Marine Protected Areas, and one on a review of the partnership with leisure boat owners registered as Pelagos Ambassadors, for an exercise in collective intelligence.
The outcomes of these discussions will be reviewed by the two Secretariats and examined by their respective working groups before being submitted to their decision-making bodies.
The day ended with the inauguration of a fresco by Monegasque artist Anthony Alberti, also known as Mr One Teas, created in cooperation with Sciences Po students and participants.
Inspired by this successful first joint event, the Secretariats of the RAMOGE and Pelagos Agreements plan to pursue and strengthen their cooperation in the future.

Pelagos Agreement
The Pelagos Agreement on the creation of a sanctuary for marine mammals in the Mediterranean Sea came into force in 2002. The Pelagos Sanctuary is the only international, cross-border zone dedicated to the protection of marine mammals in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an area that features extraordinary biodiversity, where eight cetacean species are regularly observed and it is also possible, on rare occasions, to spot monk seals. Created to better preserve marine ecosystems by assessing and managing the impact of humans on marine mammal species and their habitats, the Sanctuary is a Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI) recognised by the Barcelona Convention and the United Nations Environment Programme. It was recently declared a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) for the Spanish cetacean migration corridor.

RAMOGE Agreement
The RAMOGE Agreement is an intergovernmental cooperation agreement between France, Monaco and Italy aimed at preserving marine ecosystems. Its programme of activities focuses on preserving coastal ecosystems and biodiversity and on evaluating the impact of anthropogenic pressure. The Agreement also includes initiatives to fight pollution in the event of a major accident such as an oil spill or the discharge of dangerous substances at sea. Initiatives to raise awareness among stakeholders and the general public are also organised. The name of the Agreement comes from the initial area covered by RAMOGE, from Saint-Raphaël to Genoa via Monaco. The area now extends from the mouth of the Rhone river to the edge of Tuscany for coastal zone management, and from the mouth of the Rhone to Capo d’Anzio, including Corsica and northern Sardinia for anti-pollution initiatives.

Press contact
Pelagos Agreement Permanent Secretariat
vcattani@pelagossanctuary.org  / secretariat@pelagossanctuary.org