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.

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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

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Natura 2000 Biogeographical Process in the Mediterranean Region

Document library

Background documents First Mediterranean Seminar (2014)

• Draft Pre-scoping document for the Mediterranean & Macaronesian Region(2.12 Mb)  
• 2nd Pre-scoping document for the Mediterranean Region(3.12 Mb)
• Habitats for priority consideration agreed at the 2nd Steering Committee (24 Apr 2014)(144 kB)
• Seminar (26 - 28 May 2014)
  • Draft Seminar Programme(556 kB)
  • Draft Seminar Input Document(1.94 Mb)  
  • Fieldtrip Axios Delta National Park(2.35 Mb)
  • Draft Seminar Report(1.3 Mb)  
  • Seminar results:
    • Coastal group(1.1 Mb)  
    • Forest group(2.11 Mb)  
    • Grassland group(1.78 Mb)  
    • Wetlands group(1.56 Mb)  
  • Case studies
    • Forest case study by Sophie Bourlon(8.41 Mb)   France
    • Forest case study by Miguel Bugalho(4.81 Mb) Portugal
    • Freshwater case study by Anila Shallari(5.63 Mb)   France
    • Freshwater case study by Vasso Tsiaoussi(2.29 Mb)   Greece
    • Grassland case study by Jasenka Topic(19.39 Mb)   Croatia
    • Grassland case study by Javier Cabello(5.58 Mb) Spain
    • Coastal case study by Graziano Caramori(3.85 Mb)   Italy

Background documents Second Mediterranean Seminar (2017)

• Input Document 2nd Mediterranean Seminar (1.24 Mb)
• Annex III A: worst situation first and LHF methods
• Annex III B: LHF habitat sheets
• Annex IV – Coastal and marine habitat group (3.72 Mb)
• Annex V – Freshwater habitat group (2.24 Mb)
• Annex VI – Grassland, heath and scrub habitat group (3.29 Mb)
• Annex VII – Forest habitat group (3.08 Mb)

Seminar (14-16 November 2017)

• The seminar presentations can be found here
• Seminar Report 2nd Mediterranean Seminar (1.46 Mb)