Mediterranean Biogeographical Region
The Mediterranean basin stretches c.3,800 km east to west from the tip of Portugal to the shores of Lebanon and some 1,000 km north to south from Italy to Morocco and Libya. Within the European Union, the Mediterranean Region encompasses seven Member States either partially (France, Portugal, Italy, Spain) or completely (Greece, Malta, Cyprus).
The climate is characterised by hot dry summers and humid, cool winters but it can also be notoriously capricious with sudden torrential downpours or bouts of high winds (eg. the Sirocco, the Mistral) occurring at various times of the year. These climatic conditions have a profound influence on the vegetation and wildlife of the region. So does its varied and contrasting topography – the Mediterranean Region offers an ever changing landscape of high mountains, rocky shores, impenetrable scrub, semi-arid steppes, coastal wetlands, sandy beaches and a myriad islands of various shapes and sizes dotted amidst the clear blue sea.
Contrary to the classic ‘sun, sea and sand’ images portrayed in most tourist brochures, the Mediterranean is surprisingly hilly. One is almost never out of sight of the mountains, even on the islands.
Having escaped the last Ice Age, all these areas harbour their own special kind of wildlife and habitats. As a result, the Mediterranean has not only a very rich biodiversity but also a large number of species that exist here and nowhere else in the world. The rate of endemism is exceptionally high both on land and in the sea. Of the 25,000 flowering plants identified so far–representing around 10% of all known plants on earth – more than half are endemic to the region. Not surprisingly, the Mediterranean is considered one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world.
Member States:
CY • FR • GR • HR • IT • MT • PT • SI • ES • UK
Lead country: Greece
More information:
Ecosystems and Habitats
Natura 2000 Biogeographical Process in the Mediterranean Region
Regional Cooperation
Relevant Projects
Relevant Publications
Ecosystems and Habitats
|
Ecosystems |
Habitats |
| Coastal |
1120 submerged Posidonia beds (Posidonion oceanicae) 1110 submerged Sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water all the time 1150 tidal Coastal lagoons 1170 submerged Reefs 1310 tidal Salicornia and other annuals colonizing mud and sand 1410 tidal Mediterranean salt meadows (Juncetalia maritimi) 1420 tidal Mediterranean and thermo-Atlantic halophilous scrubs (Sarcocornetea fruticosi) 2110 dune Embryonic shifting dunes 2230 dune Malcolmietalia dune grasslands 2250 dune Coastal dunes with Juniperus spp. |
| Forest |
9320 Olea and Ceratonia forests 9260 Castanea sativa woods 9540 Mediterranean pine forests with endemic Mesogean pines 9330 Quercus suber forests 9340 Quercus ilex and Quercus rotundifolia forests |
| Freshwater |
92A0 Salix alba and Populus alba galleries 92D0 Southern riparian galleries and thickets (Nerio-Tamaricetea and Securinegion tinctoriae) 3290 Intermittently flowing Mediterranean rivers of the Paspalo-Agrostidion 3170 Mediterranean temporary ponds |
| Grassland, Heaths & Scrubs |
6210 Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia) (important orchid sites) 6220 Pseudo-steppe with grasses and annuals of the Thero-Brachypodietea 5330 Thermo-Mediterranean and pre-desert scrub 6310 Dehesas with evergreen Quercus spp |
Natura 2000 Biogeographical Process in the Mediterranean Region
Document library
All documents related to Mediterranean Region seminars can be found in our document library here.
Preparatory / Follow up actions
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Previous to the Mediterranean Seminar, in June 2012 the ELN-FAB European seminar on applying functional agrobiodiversity in the Mediterranean was held in the framework of the European Learning Network on Functional AgroBiodiversity (ELN-FAB)in Avignon, France. Some 40 experts met to exchange information on functional agrobiodiversity and its application in the Mediterranean region. The meeting aimed to stimulate the uptake of functional agrobiodiversity throughout the Mediterranean region as a contribution to sustainable agriculture. Results of this event can be the basis for the event to be organised within the Natura 2000 Biogeographical process.
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Territorial governance and policy integration for Mediterranean water dependent Natura 2000 sites: challenges and opportunities. Barcelona, Spain, 6 November 2014
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Natura 2000 in the Region. Third Conference of the European Learning Network on Regions and Biodiversity. Barcelona, Spain, 10 and 11 December 2014
Regional Cooperation
Regional Networks
- United Nations Environment Programme Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP-MAP)
- The Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative
- Mediterranean Lagoons Network
- WWF Mediterranean Policy Office
- Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA)
Relevant Projects
Site management
- Ancares/Castilla León - Ancares project : co-ordinate management of two adjoining comunitarian sites of interest (LIC)
- Biomares - Restoration and Management of Biodiversity in the Marine Park Site Arrábida-Espichel
- COLLI BERICI NATURA 2000 - Conservation actions, habitat and species improvement, and preservation of SIC Colli Berici nature reserve
- Comanacy - Conservation management in Natura 2000 sites of Cyprus
- DINAMO - Increasing endangered biodiversity in agricultural and semi-natural areas: a demonstrative management model
- BioDehesa - Dehesa ecosystems:development of policies and tools for biodiversity conservation and management
Species conservation and management
- ISOTOSCA - Tuscan Islands: new actions towards sea birds and habitat
- GERVE - Ecosystemic management of rivers with European mink
Forest and woodland
- FRAINETTO WOODS Mnt.ATHOS - Rehabilitation of Coppice Quercus frainetto woods (9280) and Quercus ilex woods (9340) to high forest
- Campanarios de Azaba - Biodiversity conservation in western Iberia
Coastal dunes
- Dunas Albufera - Model of restoration of dunes habitats in 'L'Albufera de Valencia'
- JUNICOAST - Actions for the conservation of coastal dunes with Juniperus spp. in Crete and the South Aegean (Greece)
- PROVIDUNE - Conservation and recovery of dune priority habitats among the sites of Cagliari, Caserta, Matera provinces
- Cons. Costa W - Species and habitats conservation in Portuguese Western Coast
Coastal lagoons and salt pans
- LAG Nature - Creating an experimental and demonstrative network of lagoon and dune Natura 2000 sites on the mediterranean coastline of Languedoc-Roussillon
- MC-SALT - Environmental Management and Restoration of Mediterranean Salt Works and Coastal Lagoons
- CIRCUREVIEJA - Decantation circuit of residual salts and ecological recovery of the Natural Park of Las Lagunas de la Mata and Torrevieja
- Conservation and management of wetlands and steppic areas in Murcia
Relevant Publications
- Network of Marine Protected Area Managers in the Mediterranean (MedPAN) - Newsletter