The purpose of this side event was to share recent outcomes, tools, and lessons learned around the topic of Mediterranean maritime and coastal sustainable tourism. In this context, IUCN-Med will present the second phase of the DestiMED Project (DestiMED Plus), as well as the MEET Network - two different projects to foster ecotourism in Mediterranean protected areas. 

Indeed, poorly managed and unplanned tourism is one of the key threats faced by Mediterranean natural ecosystems, especially in maritime and coastal destinations, as they are receiving a large amount of visitors concentrated in the peak season and around highly fragile areas. At the same time, alternative and sustainable tourism models, such as ecotourism, can provide significant opportunities to improve livelihoods derived from ecosystem services while benefiting environmental conservation and local development.

The event will also highlight recent opportunities and gaps identified in governance, policy-making, impact monitoring and management, while sharing innovative perspectives on how recent achievements can be capitalized and scaled to broader Mediterranean context in the framework of the Barcelona Convention and other multilateral or voluntary environmental agreements and commitments at global, regional, national or local scale.

Novel approaches and lessons related to sustainable blue tourism and its role in supporting biodiversity conservation and territorial development around the Mediterranean coast will complete the event agenda.