EUSAIR flagships defined within Pillar 3 – Environmental Quality

The ice-breaker of the process was Pillar 3 - Environmental Quality, which proposed 3 flagships with concrete actions countries will meet at national level to follow common goal/solutions for the region.

F1 - Development and implementation of Adriatic-Ionian Sub/regional Oil spill contingency plan: The flagship addresses needs of examination and extension of the Contingency plan for Northern Adriatic to other Adriatic-Ionian countries, so that possible risks and future events or circumstances, which could damage the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region environment can be prevented or at least the damage can be minimized.

F2 - Protection and enhancement of natural terrestrial habitats and ecosystems: The flagship will try to establish protection and enhancement of natural terrestrial habitats and ecosystems, with particular attention to the ecological connectivity of blue and green corridors/infrastructure. Connecting all EUSAIR countries protected areas including Natura 2000 areas and other networks with tourism will have strong impact on the Adriatic-Ionian region with their joint managements and researches.

F3 - Promotion of sustainable growth of the Adriatic-Ionian region by implementing ICZM and MSP as well as to contribute CRF on ICZM of Barcelona convention and the appropriate monitoring and management of marine protected area: The extension of MSP/ICZM to the whole Adriatic-Ionian region will help strengthen and develop sustainable growth (economic and touristic), decrease pollution, protect unique biodiversity and increase quality of life.

The contribution of Thematic Steering Group 3 was very much apprised by the participants of the meeting.