Sailing in the name of the long-term conservation of nature in South-Eastern Europe, Jadran was moored in Cagliari for two days, supporting a seminar on “Integrated Coastal Management” organized by UNESCO with the support of local government of the Regione Sardinia. The importance of international cooperation was stressed out during this event. “The local government of the Regione Sardinia is very advanced in the integrated coastal management, having established the specific agency to focus on this issue “ says Mr Giorgio Andrian, UNESCO BRESCE.

Sailing participants took this short break in Cagliari as the opportunity to inform the public on their experience on Jadran so far. “Like the crew and the trainees, we were here to work, “says Mr Richard Clarke, Director of the Center for European Protected Areas research at the London University, “[…] to learn from each other, network, plan, publicise, see how we could take our activity to a new level, so seminars on board […] have been a regular feature of the voyage”. A variety of issues were tackled, such as the comparison of institutional levels existing in the Dinaric massive countries, the stage of the Natura 2000 network designation and the importance of local communities involvement in the nature conservation.

Althugh countries of the region had its own development paths, many common issues and concerns were brought to the light. The onboard seminars will continue in the forecomming second part of the Jadran’s sailing to Barcelona, thus strenghtening the network and supporting transboundary cooperation in South-Eastern Europe. On 3 October, Jadran will be welcomed at the Barcelona’s main harbour – Port Vell.

For more information or to set up interviews, please contact:

Sarah Gindre, Sailing to Barcelona Project Manager, sarah.gindre@iucn.org

Tomasz Pezold, Project Officer, IUCN Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe, Mob: +381 63 357 837, tomasz.pezold@iucn.org