Mediterranean Database of Cetacean Strandings (MEDACES)

In November 2001, the 12th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution and its Protocols, within the "Biological Diversity and Specially Protected Areas" section, recommended for implementing the Action Plan for the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Mediterranean Sea, to approve the offer by Spain with regard to the establishment in Valencia of a Mediterranean database on cetacean strandings (MEDACES).

The Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) is the depositary for the database, whose management is entrusted to the University of Valencia's Cavanilles Biodiversity Institute (ICBIBE), with the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of the Environment, and Rural and Marine Affairs (MMA). The ICBIBE provides the human and material resources necessary to implement MEDACES.