The Regional Activity Centre for the Mediterranean Specially Protected Areas: Evaluation of its Development and Achievements - UNEP Regional Seas Reports and Studies No. 100

This document evaluates the Regional Activity Centre for Mediterranean Specially Protected Areas in Tunis, created in 1985 to support the 1982 protocol under the Barcelona Convention, and assesses its objectives, performance, and governance arrangements. It finds the centre’s mandate sound and early outputs credible given limited staff, with IUCN’s technical role described as indispensable, but identifies persistent delays, unclear responsibilities, weak host-country administrative support, and burdensome UNEP procedures that hindered efficiency. Recommendations call for a formal memorandum clarifying roles, stronger Tunisian commitment, upgraded communications and staffing status, expanded capacity for field assistance, a concrete publications and distribution plan, continued but increasingly regionalized scientific support, and a follow-up evaluation in 1991.