Freshwater biodiversity assessment and conservation priorities for the Mediterranean Hotspot
Our Mediterranean Hotspot project will provide resources that are essential for guiding decisions on the conservation and sustainable management of freshwater biodiversity in the Mediterranean Basin Biodiversity Hotspot. The project will first build on our recent assessements in the region by filling the remaining gaps in information on freshwater biodiversity in the eastern and northern Mediterranean region and will use this information, combined with the results of previous biodiversity assessments, to identify and validate Key Biodiversity Areas as a focus for conservation action throughout the Hotspot.
This will be achieved by;
- Collating data on the distribution, abundance, ecology, and utilisation by humans, for several groups of species that are reliable indicators of the biological structure and functioning of freshwater ecosystems in the eastern and northern Mediterranean region.
- Evaluating the risk of extinction for these species according to the IUCN Red List Criteria
- Mapping geographic patterns of species richness, endemism, and existing or impending threats to the species
- Identifying and validating (through stakeholder consultations and workshops) freshwater Key Biodiversity Areas for the entire Mediterranean Basin Biodiversity Hotspot region.
- Making the collated data and results for the analysis widely and freely available to conservation practitioners and developers alike via print publications, data DVD’s, and the internet.
The exceptional concentration of species found in the freshwaters of the Mediterranean region, coupled with the essential ecosystem services that are supplied to humanity by these freshwaters and their biodiversity, and the increasing threats to the ecosystems, indicate the importance and urgency of this project.
The project started in June 2012 and is funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), MAVA Foundation pour la Nature (MAVA), the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperation (AECID) and the BioFresh Project.
Northern Mediterranean Assessment (2015)
The Northern Mediterranean Assessment (second part of the project) will start later this year (December 2015) thanks to the support of MAVA Foundation.
