A list of LIFE projects relevant to the Mediterranean environment is nowavailable. For facility, they are divided into sections concerning:

- Land-Based Sources & Pollution Monitoring at Sea- Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control & Clean Technologies- Pollution from ships: Prevention & Response to Spills at Sea- Port

reception facilities- Protected Areas & Biodiversity Projects (Marine & Coastal)- Integrated Coastal Zone Management & the Urban Environment

The list is available athttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/projectsbythemes.htm.

It contains links to allow you to access directly a summary of each project (withcontact information) and the project’s web site.

What is LIFE?LIFE is the EU’s financial instrument supporting environmental and natureconservation projects throughout the EU, as well as in certain candidate,acceding and neighbouring countries. Since 1992, LIFE has co-financed some2,750 projects, contributing approximately 1.35 billion euros to the protection ofthe environment. LIFE has three components:

- LIFE-Environment co-finances innovative pilot and demonstration projects- LIFE-Nature focus on nature conservation- LIFE-Third Countries promotes environmental capacity building in countriesbordering the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea.

For all information on LIFE see http://ec.europa.eu/life

European Commission

Life in theLife in the MediterraneanLife in the Mediterranean

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At the 10th Anniversary Summit of the Euro-Mediterranean Process held inBarcelona in November 2005 the partners made protecting the Mediterraneanenvironment a key a priority for cooperation in the years to come. In response theEuropean Commission has launched the Horizon 2020 initiative to reducepollution in the Mediterranean Sea and outlined its strategy for environmentalcooperation in the region. The transfer of EU experience in addressingenvironmental problems is one of the pillars of that strategy.

The EU has built up a wealth of experience in tackling the same environmentalpressures that face its partner countries across the Mediterranean Region.Tapping into this reservoir of knowledge is a simple and effective way of helpingpartner countries to learn from the experience of others - copying the bestpractices - avoiding the errors.

Learning from LIFEOne of the richest sources of experience has been the LIFE programme that hasco-financed many different environmental projects during its 15 year duration.Below you can find a short selection of projects that have been picked for theirrelevance to the Mediterranean.

But many more can be found in the database of LIFE projects maintained by theEuropean Commission. Many of the successful projects provide useful experiencein tackling issues linked to industrial emissions, municipal waste and Urban WasteWater - the priority sectors of Horizon 2020. The Life project database is availableat http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm

Best practises and technologies for the protection and improvement of the Mediterranean environmentWhile there are many ideas about how to protect and improve theMediterranean environment, decision makers need to have access to a rangeof tried and tested techniques and technologies. LIFE demonstration projectsprovide just that.

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/041 Kick start for recycling

When Cyprus was preparing to join the EU, LIFEco-financed a public-private waste recyclingscheme that wascoupled with asuccessfulawarenessraisingcampaign. A pilotscheme was setup focussing onthe collection ofpaper, glass,aluminium andplastic forrecycling. At the end of the project two of themunicipalities involved expanded the schemeby buying additional disposal bins andcontinuing the separate collection of waste. Inparallel awareness raising and educationefforts achieved the participation of schoolchildren and parents. This project gave

valuable data andexperience thatfed into theplanning of theNational StrategicProgramme onrecycling asCyprus preparedto align with EUenvironmentalnorms andstandards.

New wastewater treatment process for thetanning industry

Around 40% of Spanish leather production isconcentrated atthe La Serrataindustrial estatein Lorca, Murcia.The effluent fromthe tanningprocess has ahigh level ofsalinity and is difficult to treat in anenvironmentally responsible and economicway so in the past it was simply diluted and

discharged intothe river with all ofthe accompanyingpollution andsmells. Thisproject developeda new method oftreatment that

lowers salinity levels in the wastewater to apoint where the water can be re-used inagriculture and industry and produced over7,000 m3 of recycled water per day.Thetechnology developed in this pilot project setsan examplethat couldbenefit othersfacing the sameproblems in thetanningindustry.

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83Magnetic cleaning of oil spills

The Mediterranean Sealies at the crossroads ofoil transport routes andthe risk of oil spills ishigh. As experience hasshown oil spills can damage both theenvironment and the tourism dependanteconomies of the countries that border thissea. Greece, a country particularlyvulnerable to these threats, benefited froma LIFE project that took a new cleaningtechnique based on magnetic separationand demonstrated its large scaleapplication to the open sea.The project wasable to demonstrate that the techniquecould fully recover accidentally spilt oilswith no residual pollution left behind andthat the technology is environmentallybenign using non-toxic materials that canbe recycled.This method provides analternative to the use of potentially harmful

chemicaldispersants.

Since theproject wascompleted theCleanMagtechnology has

been further developed for commercialexploitation and a number of countrieshave expressed interest in acquiring it.

Protecting the Monk Seal

The Mediterranean monk seal is one of thesix most threatened marine mammals inthe world. In the course of successive LIFEprojects inthe Aegeanand IonianSeas, theHellenicSociety forthe StudyandProtectionof the Monk Seal (MOM) has helped put inplace protected areas, monitor and studythe populations, develop a managementplan and carry out a very successfulcommunication strategy aimed inparticular at local inhabitants and tourists.Currently they are working to mitigate

conflictsbetweenfishermenand theseals.

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Photos: Life programme

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