Integrated management of natural resources of small Mediterranean islands

Although islands represent only 5% of the earth's surface, they are home to 20% of terrestrial species and 600 million people depend on island ecosystem services for their sustainable development.

Islands are unique territories characterized by strong isolation, space and resource management constraints and often important seasonal variations of populations. These particular geographical and socio-economic constraints generate problems specific to these territories, in particular the management of flows and main resources: water, energy, waste... They exert an exacerbated pressure on natural resources, which constitutes both a challenge and an opportunity for the development of solutions.

The general objective of the project is to implement concrete and sustainable actions in the field in order to illustrate the capacity of small Mediterranean islands to provide exemplary and replicable solutions for the preservation and sustainable management of natural resources, while promoting dialogue among themselves and with other islands in the world.

Around a shared governance, the project accompanies 4 islands of the Mediterranean, in order to :

• To set up a local management of green waste in Porquerolles (France), within the framework of a sustainable management of waste on the island;
• Supporting the preservation of agro-biodiversity and landscapes of the island of Sifnos (Greece);
• Contribute to the emergence of an MPA and education programs for integrated management of natural land and sea resources on the Pakleni Islands (Croatia);
• Contribute to the preservation of the aeolian wall lizard in order to initiate a shared resource management approach in Lipari (Italy).

The capitalization of experiences and the networking of Mediterranean island territories with the whole network of SMILO islands will allow the exchange of good practices and expertise with other islands in the Mediterranean and in the world.