Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 7.2
(continued)
Regional Activity
Centre
Establishment
Description
INFO/RAC
Information and
Communication
Regional Activity
Centre
previously
ERS/RAC
Environment Remote
Sensing Regional
Activity Centre
Year: 2005 INFO/
RAC
Year: 1993 ERS/
RAC
Place: Rome and
Palermo, Italy
Status: Public body
put at the disposal
of MAP
Aims to provide information
and communication services
and technical support to MAP,
also by enhancing public
awareness (Initially ERS/RAC
would promote and introduce
remote sensing and GIS for
environmental monitoring and
sustainable development)
Phase II of MED POL lasted from 1981 until 1990 and was named the
'Long-term Pollution Monitoring and Research Programme'. For ef ective
implementation of its specii c objectives it was divided into four distinct
components: monitoring, research and study topics, data quality assur-
ance, and assistance. Overall coordination of Phase II was in the hands of
the Mediterranean Action Plan Coordinating Unit (the Secretariat of the
Barcelona Convention) acting on behalf of UNEP, even though the coun-
tries were fully responsible for monitoring activities as stated in Article 12
of the Barcelona Convention and in Article 8 of the Land-Based Sources
Protocol.
MED POL has recently i nished its Phase III, which started in 1996 and
lasted until 2005. Just before the end of Phase II important events at both
international and regional levels took place, which guided MED POL to
change its direction. These events were the adoption of Agenda 21 in Rio
1992 and the Global Plan of Action (GPA) in 1995 in Washington (UNEP,
1995a) to address pollution from land-based sources and activities, and
creation of the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development
(MCSD) together with the amended LBS Protocol at regional level. Hence
there was a slow change from pollution assessment to pollution control,
with MED POL becoming a tool for the countries to properly manage
their marine and coastal areas. MED POL Phase III, adopted in 1995 and
called the 'Programme for the Assessment and Control of Pollution in
the Mediterranean Region', was directly concerned with implementation
of the two relevant protocols (Dumping and LBS), since it focused more
on management of pollution control (UNEP, 1999). It included activities
such as pollutant trend monitoring and assessing ef ects of contaminants
on living organisms as well as inventory of pollution sources and loads
and i nally the setting up of a database. Regarding control, compliance
