ROUND TABLE ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION - PODGORICA, APRIL 24
The Round table on the importance of regional and sub-regional cooperation for the protection of the marine environment and effective implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the Directive establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning (MSP) organized by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Secretariat of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, was held on April 24 at Ramada Hotel in Podgorica.
The Round table was organized in the framework of the Montenegrin Chairmanship of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative with the aim of sharing knowledge, experiences and best practices in the field of marine environment preservation and marine spatial planning, emphasizing the importance of subregional and regional cooperation for the effective implementation of European legislation in this field. Such expert dialogue and exchange were organized in order to contribute to the establishment of a more strengthened cooperation and more efficient application of planning and management tools in coastal and marine areas in the Adriatic-Ionian region.
After the opening remarks by the representatives of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, expert presentations followed on the topics related to interlinkages between Mediterranean, regional initiatives and the European Agenda in the field of the marine environment protection, national experiences on the integrated coastal zone management, importance of marine protected areas for the sustainable coastal zone management as well as of the and data on these marine areas for MSP, including importance of the work and reactivation of the Commission for the Protection of the Adriatic Sea and coastal areas were held by experts from Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
At the Round table, besides the representatives of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and experts from the Adriatic-Ionian region, representatives of relevant ministries, coastal municipalities and national institutions involved in the implementation of regional, European and global initiatives for protection of the marine and coastal environment (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Agency for Nature and Environment Protection, Institute of Marine Biology, Institute of Hydrometeorology and Seismology, Public enterprize for coastal zone management, Maritime Safety Department, Center for Ecotoxicological Research) including NGO sector, as well as independent experts.
Participants of the meeting were also informed and invited to the upcoming 4th Forum of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region (EUSAIR FORUM) and the 2nd Joint Conference of the Chambers of Commerce, Cities and Universities of the Adriatic-Ionian Region which will be held 7-8 May 2019 in Hotel Splendid, Budva. Registration and additional information for these two events are available through the link: https://www.adriatic-ionian.eu/event/4th-eusair-annual-forum/4th-eusair-annual-forum-draft/.