Since Homer’s day, the Mediterranean has been much more than a beautiful body of water, where Odysseus journeyed home, encountering six-headed monsters, bewitching sirens and unpredictable gods.
Situated between Africa, Asia and Europe, the Mediterranean has been a highway connecting cities, civilisations and commerce, providing food and livelihoods while being central to culture, spirituality and the spread of ideas.
With its shores now home to more than 500 million people, including some 25 coastal metropolitan areas, the Mediterranean’s importance has only grown. Home to the world’s busiest shipping lanes, it currently supports massive fishing and tourism industries, with a growing list of others.
Ecological treasure chest
The Mediterranean is also an ecological treasure chest. Covering just one per cent of the world’s ocean surface, it contains up to 18 per cent of all known marine species, more than a quarter of which are found nowhere else on Earth.
Underwater meadows of Posidonia oceanica – an endemic seagrass named for the Greek god Poseidon and commonly known as Neptune grass – cover more than 1.2 million hectares, providing a vital habitat for troves of marine life, sequestered carbon and nutrients.
Maps
Other ecosystems such as marshes, wetlands and dunes, buffer the Mediterranean’s approximate 46,000 kilometres of coastline and keep communities safe from erosion and storms. These landscapes provide food, water, jobs and identities – but they’re coming under increasing strain.© FAO/Kurt Arrigo
Different fish species swim in a marine protected area outside the coast of Malta.
New monsters
While Odysseus largely tackled his monsters one by one, the modern-day obstacles in the Mediterranean work together to erode the overall health of the region.
These new monsters are posing grave threats. Every day, an estimated 730 tonnes of plastic waste alone enters the sea, much of it carried there by rivers: single-use plastics account for more than 60 per cent of rubbish on Mediterranean beaches.
Wastewater, industrial chemicals, agricultural run-off and pollutants from ships are affecting the sea’s waters, alongside newer threats like pharmaceutical waste, microplastics, plastic additives and a rise in underwater noise levels that disrupts wildlife.© Unsplash/Domenico Daniele
The Mediterranean Sea has long been an attraction for tourists and locals, including this beach in Italy.
From heatwaves to pollution
The Mediterranean region is warming 20 per cent faster than the global average temperature rise, indicated recurring summer heatwaves. Changes in rainfall, sea-level rise and ocean acidification, are also heightening threats of drought, wildfire, flooding, erosion and water shortages.
Construction, pollution and various industries are unsettling and damaging the sea’s vibrant biodiversity, from loggerhead sea turtles and striped dolphins to swordfish, octopus and the rare Mediterranean monk seal.
The challenges are often self-reinforcing. When larger predatory fish become scarce, fishers catch smaller species lower down the food chain, disrupting the food web.
Damaged coastal ecosystems provide less protection from storms and floods. Warmer water temperatures can make it easier for invasive species to spread, affecting native biodiversity and ecosystems. Irresponsible tourism produces increasing waste and places pressure on fragile habitats.© Adobe Stock/Haris Photography
Gidaki Beach in Ithaca, Greece.
A modern MAP forward
Fortunately, the sea has a hero. The Mediterranean Action Plan of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), established in 1975, is the first if its kind under the agency’s broader regional seas programme, which now brings 145 countries together to protect the world’s saltwater bodies.
Multilateral Organizations
