During his appearance at the Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona earlier this month, Prince Albert II unveiled the exciting plans for Monaco Explorations’ latest project and mission: a voyage across the Mediterranean that will begin in Greece.
After the success of its Indian Ocean Mission in 2022, Monaco Explorations has pivoted its focus to a place much closer to home: the Mediterranean Sea.
Announced on 9th April at a special event preceding the Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona, the next major project will see the Monaco Explorations team tour an array of destinations within the Mediterranean zone in a bid to better understand the challenges faced by the sea.
Though no official start date for the mission, which will begin in Greece, has been confirmed, Prince Albert’s aspirations for the project are clear.
“By virtue of its geographical features and geopolitical situation, the threats it faces and the activities it generates, the Mediterranean is in many ways a laboratory for the challenges that lie ahead for all seas,” he says, “The movement to protect the sea is gaining ground every year. The time has come to accelerate the movement before it’s too late. The first challenge is to strengthen existing marine protected areas, both politically and legally. The second challenge is the expansion of these marine protected areas, which should cover a third of our seas to ensure effective protection.”
In short, this mission reflects his ambitious goals of achieving 30×30; the Monaco sovereign is seeking to attain protected status for 30% of the Mediterranean Sea by the end of this decade.
“The Mediterranean is a hotspot for biodiversity,” says Xavier Prache, the director of Monaco Explorations, “[but] it is also one of the world’s most polluted seas and is at the crossroads of multiple civilisations and economies.”
He continues, “Monaco Explorations’ new Mediterranean Missions expedition will take place over several years around the Mediterranean, under the impetus of Prince Albert, who has long been committed to preserving the Mediterranean along with all the Principality’s stakeholders. In collaboration with all partners involved in the conservation and sustainable management of the Mediterranean environment, Monaco Explorations aims to shine a spotlight on the urgency and importance of accelerated development and effective management of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean. Supporting initiatives, federating players, pooling resources, explaining, acting in the field, contributing to the dissemination of knowledge, convincing through government action, mediation and science… We’re going to do our utmost to help create the right conditions for the success of this collective undertaking.”
The Monaco Explorations Society was founded by Prince Albert and unites local specialists and scientists from the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, the Oceanographic Institute – Albert I, Prince of Monaco Foundation, the Centre Scientifique de Monaco and the Yacht Club de Monaco.
Further information about Monaco Explorations and its projects can be found here.
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Photo source: Julian Muller, Unsplash