Between the 14^th and 19^th June 2012 a multinational team of scientists from 7 countries (Spain, Greece, England, Lebanon, Turkey, Croatia), who specialise in marine priority habitats, were invited to the island of Fourni in Greece, by the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) and Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation, to take part in the first regional training workshop on coralligene reef mapping techniques. The workshop took place as part of the implementation of the RAC/SPA action plan for the conservation of the coralligenous and other calcareous bio-concretions in the Mediterranean Sea, and was led by Dr. Enric Ballesteros, director at the Centre of Advanced studies of Blanes (CEAB), Spain and Emma Cebrian, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Botany at the University of Girona, Spain.

The first Regional Training Workshop focused on:

• The preparation and adoption of common inventoring methods that can be applied across Mediterranean.
• The dissemination and exchange of scientific knowledge through lectures and discussions concerning the evolution of research methods for inventories of coralligenous assemblages.
• The enhancement of cooperation of the fishing communities, increasing the role they play in providing information on the location of habitats, as well as identifying and addressing the degradation factors.
• In field research and the implementation of new inventoring protocols using GIS, underwater HD cameras, sonar, and scuba diving (to 60m), to map the deep assemblages growing in the area.

This scientific workshop was held only a few days after the first regional workshop on the conservation of the Monk Seal. It significantly enhanced the efforts made over the years by RAC/SPA and Archipelagos, towards the protection of the natural wealth of the Mediterranean, as well as gradually establishing a better understanding of and drive for sustainable development.

For any further information:

atef.ouerghi@rac-spa.org