The first symposium ever organized by SPA/RAC, the UNEP/MAP Specially Protected Areas Regional Activity Centre, took place in October 2000 in Ajaccio and focused on marine vegetation.

It inaugurated a series of scientific events aimed at improving knowledge about Mediterranean marine biodiversity, which is key to conservation and sustainable management.

For more than two decades, the symposia have provided, within the framework of the Barcelona Convention, a platform for dialogue among the scientific community and biological resource managers, in support of an integrated and complementary approach to the production and dissemination of information on the living world.

This year, SPA/RAC is joining forces with the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, the Department of Earth, the Environment and Life Sciences of the University of Genoa and the association “Società Italiana di Biologia Marina”, to organize a new edition of the Mediterranean Symposia in Genoa, from 19 to 23 September 2022.

The themes are marine vegetation, coralligenous and other calcareous bio-concretions, dark habitats, and non-indigenous species.

For each theme, there are oral presentations of scientific studies, poster sessions, as well as a keynote conference.

All sessions will be broadcast live on SPA/RAC YouTube