Anastasios Eleftheriou Institute of Marine Biology of Crete, Greece

1. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment • CONCLUSIONS: • Lessons learnt from past experience • (i.e.,gaps in our knowledge) • and • The way forward • Or Where do we go from here? • Anastasios Eleftheriou • Institute of Marine Biology of Crete, Greece

2. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment • Climate change • Sustainable land use and CZM • Impact of human activities • Deep Sea management of resources • Biodiversity changes • Sustainable fisheries & aquaculture • Biotechnology • Thresholds of environmental sustainability • Environmental economy • Information management

3. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Climate change: gaps in our knowledge - serious gap in ecosystem modelling - global forcing – need to understand its role in the Mediterranean and Black Sea • in order to predict future climate change, we need to know more about past climate change • - no knowledge as to what factors triggered short climate change in Mediterranean Sea

4. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Climate change: where do we go from here? - Operational models to integrate information by means • of simple indicators (renewal time scale of coastal areas) - investigations into past climate change (measurements and models) in order to make realistically varied scenarios - existing observation system (EUROGOOS System) to be maintained and enhanced and linked to other Global Observation Systems - forcing effect of anthropogenic aerosols on Med/Black Seas • to be investigated - forecast models to run on operational mode and • checked against data

5. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Coastal management: gaps to be filled -how to ensure sustainable utilization of natural resources -how to avoid creation of thresholds that will not hamper sustainability PROBLEMS: -coastal zones affected by inland activities -coastal erosion major problem with no standard solutions -CZM policies and approaches sectoral rather than integrated

6. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Coastal management: what next? -develop and implement integrated CZM, joint effort from natural and social sciences -coastal areas and catchment areas to be managed holistically -investigate impact of global & regional change on local coastal systems -modelling and forecasting systems needed to support implementation of EU policies -research to find solutions for coastal erosion problems

7. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Impact of Human Activities: gaps to fill • effects of microbial pollution in the Med. coastal zone persist, related to urban waste water. • -changes in productivity linked to anthropogenic nutrient loads, result of global change? • -spatial distribution of heavy metal pollution, organic pollutants, not well studied • -processes, pathways and fate of these pollutants in Black Sea not well known -geographical imbalance of data is more acute. -intake of pathogenic micro-organisms causing damage to health still has to be determined. - large stretches of coastal zones, for which records are very sparse.

8. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Impact of Human Activities: what next? -ecological indicators needed to capture complexities of coastal systems, must be regularly monitored - identification of sources of pollution (e.g. non-point sources in agriculture) and biological effects of long-range pollutants. -research and data on virus contamination is required on a basin scale. -scarcity of data is probably the main issue in the two regions. -monitoring capabilities of some countries have to be improved.

9. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Deep Sea Management of Resources: gaps to be filled -recent exploration of Eastern Mediterranean using hi-tec techniques and methodology reveals diverse environments -deep basins,hydrothermal vents,mud volcanoes,cold seeps,brine pools,canyons,gas hydrates -unique hydrography (warm/deep waters, deep water mass formations) -discoveries of unique ecosystems with deep-water species colonising from N.Atlantic, with high food requirements -lateral transport of food: is it event-driven? Canyon fed?

10. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Deep Sea Management of Resources: what has to be done -urgent need for detailed seabed mapping to find hydrothermal areas, volcanic hot spots -need to understand interconnectivity of ecosystems -the eastern Med. is unique test bed for adaptation studies of benthic species colonising from the Atlantic -gas hydrates important alternative energy source: where do they occur? In what quantities? How can they be recovered?

11. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Biodiversity changes: gaps to be filled -Patterns and changes in marine biodiversity poorly known, with unexplored areas, ecosystems & groups -loss of coastal habitats a major global concern (loss of 80% area = loss of 50% species) -insufficient harmonisation of classical and molecular techniques -lack of studies concerning the coupling of biodiversity with ecosystem functioning, productivity and economic profitability -little info on effects of fishing gear on biodiversity -lack of long-term data and comparative datasets/methodology, analysis, reference sites

12. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Biodiversity changes: what next? -need to synthesize existing info by building a Mediterranean and Black Sea database. -comparative studies needed concerning fishing gear effects: protected areas vs fished areas, in specific habitats -need to define common protocols and to test the old and new tools (indicators) o throughout the Med. and Black Sea areas -unique opportunity in area because of huge bacterial biodiversity to search for new bacterial patterns and processes which may affect the entire planets - new studies on micro algae, invertebrates needed

13. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Sustainable fisheries/aquaculture: gaps _quality of statistics still one of main weaknesses in determining actual fishing effort, structure and capacity of difference types of fishing vessels. -collapse of fish stocks shows management failure to sustain natural resource: need to re-examine marine sustainability and look to “adaptability” instead -selection of aquaculture sites must conform to EU environmental regulations, with knowledge needed of carrying capacity, etc -food safety, of paramount importance, has developed management paradigms to help the private sector to develop a legal framework. This is lacking in sustainable development in fisheries management.

14. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Sustainable fisheries/aquaculture: what next? The production of good quality statistics a major priority -fisheries management system should be changed (since it is clearly ineffective) by following the food safety management paradigm -in aquaculture, precise definitions of carrying capacity for fishfarms in the area are needed -lessons should be learned from the food safety sector and management paradigms should be formulated

15. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Biotechnology: gaps to be filled -90% industrial enzymes of microbial origin, marine microorganisms least well known -hardly any microorganisms have been isolated, yet are likely to be important for industry -population genetic analysis based on DNA markers can identify status and history of species -sponges sources of pharmaceutically active substances: challenge is to maintain the associated bacterial community

16. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Biotechnology: what next? -development of DNA taxonomy system -research into microbial and macrobial faunas from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: new discipline of “Ecogenomics” -studies in maintenance of sponge bacterial communities -genetic studies on influence of hydrographic, climatic and anthropogenic factors in marine species

17. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Thresholds: gaps to be filled Threshold values needed to formulate sustainable development policies for coastal areas -need to define economic costs and value of goods and services provided by coastal areas (estimated at twice global GDP) -since thresholds are regional specific,(response to P differs right across Med., continuum of thresholds across regions are needed -cost-benefit analysis must incorporate entire range of social and environmental costs -lack of integration of science, politics and economy results in substantial financial and environmental loss

18. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Thresholds: what next? -sound scientific data needed to accurately define thresholds -Threshold concept to be incorporated into WPD -since the concept of thresholds is the cornerstone of sustainability, work needs to be done to define levels and values, in order to integrate separate aspects (science, politics and economics) -threshold and point of no return values must be used as a starting point for negotiating with other users

19. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Information Management: identified gaps -the information not always easily accessible. -much information remains scattered in various departments and institutions • in many cases not available in electronic form. • -quality assurance procedures are needed

20. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Information Management: what next? -more information must centrally gathered in electronic form in national and international databases, so that it can be utilised easily by decision makers in the administration and by other partners -Quality assurance and control procedures should be further developed and implemented to ensure data quality and reliability. -Allocated resources should increase to enable a continuous flow of high quality data,ie updating -An assistance component should be developed which could include training and establishment of contacts with more advanced laboratories

21. International Conference on the Sustainable Development of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Environment Conclusions and recommendations: the way ahead Move towards the development of a National Sustainability Programme which will take into account the problems, concerns and solutions from the participating countries -The existing cooperative programmes from the region should form the basis for a platform which will take into consideration the scientific and technological experience of the participating countries, to give credence and momentum and lead to an IP in the E.Mediterranean and the Black Sea -the platform will link this geographic area and will enhance the scientific, technical and political issues taking into account their unique contrasts and similarities as an interconnected large area -training and mobility of scientists and technicians should also fall within the scope of this action