The Natural Heritage project community at Interreg Euro-MED has held the second Working Groups Webinar of 2025. The end of this year is marked by several key political moments for the Mediterranean region, offering strategic opportunities to strengthen advocacy on ecosystem restoration:
In the framework of the New Pact for the Mediterranean from the European Commission, the Union for the Mediterranean will organise its 10th Regional Forum which will take place in Barcelona on November 28, coinciding with the Day of the Mediterranean. It will gather the Foreign Ministers from all 43 UfM Member States, bringing together EU members and Mediterranean partner countries to address regional cooperation priorities. On this occasion, the UfM will present its way forward, anchored in the New UfM Vision 2026–2030.
The 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the Barcelona Convention will be held from 2 to 5 December 2025 in Egypt, bringing environment ministry representatives and national focal points of the contracting parties. The Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention will formally adopt the revised Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD) 2026-2035, the main strategic framework for action in the region.
In this context, this year’s Annual Institutional Dialogue will take place just prior to the Union for the Mediterranean Regional Forum, from November 25th to 26th in Barcelona. It will maintain its focus on ecosystem restoration, framed by the recent adoption of the EU Nature Restoration Law (NRR) and the ongoing development of National Restoration Plans. Building on the 2024 edition, which focused on marine and coastal ecosystems, this year’s dialogue will address terrestrial ecosystem restoration, with a particular emphasis on forests and wetlands including freshwater ecosystems.
This webinar was organised as a preparatory and capacity-building moment. Its objective was to identify and consolidate key messages and recommendations on terrestrial ecosystem restoration emerging from the Mission’s projects. These insights will contribute to shaping the Mission’s collective voice and supporting advocacy efforts during the upcoming political events.
The organizers of the working group webinar were: Plan Bleu, Marine Institute, MedCities, IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, Region of Crete, Autonomous Region of Sardinia, and the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Region Development of Montenegro. It was supported by Community4Nature partners.
The working group webinar, facilitated by Doha Zamel, with contributions from Marilena Mochianaki of Region of Crete (Dialogue4Nature Lead Partner) and Caterina Praticò of Conisma (Community4Nature Lead Partner), included a presentation of the upcoming Annual Institutional Dialogue event, the 10th UfM Regional Forum, and the COP24 agenda.
It also included a presentation of a study on legal instruments and policies in the Mediterranean by Emanuela Manca (Region of Sardinia) and Daniela Addis (Addis Law Firm Environment & Sea).
Another session was dedicated to building policy recommendations from the Community of Practice, with the participation of representatives from the Thematic Projects (StrategyMedFor, We Go Coop, Wetlands4Change and Locall4Flood).
