14/12/2005 - Tourism and urbanisation
put serious pressures on the Mediterranean's fragile
coastal regions.
The Mediterranean region faces major environmental challenges
which Europe cannot afford to ignore, according to a
new report by the United Nations Environment Programme
/ Mediterranean Action Plan and the European Environment
Agency. If the region carries on developing in a way
that damages the environment, the environment will hinder
developments, such as tourism. This is the main message
coming out of the study, which received contributions
from over 300 Mediterranean experts.
'The sustainable future of the Mediterranean: the blue
plan,' report enjoyed its European launch in the European
Parliament on 6 December. It paints an uncompromising
picture of the Mediterranean's future, resonating with
the main messages of the European Environment Agency's
'State and Outlook Report 2005' released last month.
The report says that the Mediterranean's already precarious
state with its fragile coastal regions, scarce water
supplies, vulnerable coastal ecosystems and large scale
natural risks is under severe stress from tourism and
urbanisation.
It warns both decision-makers and the general public
about the cost of inaction and recommends viable, realistic
solutions on designing a possible future for the Mediterranean's
430 million inhabitants.
The report will be continually updated and used as a
tool to monitor the progress of the EU's 'Mediterranean
Strategy for Sustainable Development', an EU initiative
to de-pollute the Mediterranean Sea by 2020.
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