An agreement was signed on Monday, April 3, at the Residence of the Minister of State recognising the legal status of the Permanent Secretariat of Pelagos in the Principality.
The signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of Monaco Ocean Week, and took place in the presence of Prince Albert and the French and Italian Ministers of the Environment, Ségolène Royal and Gian Luca Galletti.
The Pelagos Agreement signed by France, Italy and Monaco in Rome on November 25, 1999, involved the setting up of a Sanctuary to protect marine mammals and their habitats from all man-made threats. The Sanctuary is a pilot area of the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the adjacent Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS).
To date, the Pelagos Sanctuary is the only international marine protected area dedicated to the protection of marine mammals in the Mediterranean. This maritime area of 87,500 square kilometres represents great biological diversity and hosts many species of cetaceans.