The meeting is being attended by more than 40 experts from 19 countries-signatories to the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution and EU countries. Representatives of several most prominent Mediterranean environmental NGOs and international organisations for the protection of the sea and coastal areas are attending the event as observers.
Opening the meeting, the coordinator of the Mediterranean Action Plan, Paul Mifsud, said that coastal areas in the Mediterranean were very frequently exposed to major negative changes caused by urbanisation, industrialisation and tourist development.
Mifsud said, among other things, that Croatia's coastal area too was exposed to illegal construction, linear coastal urbanisation and sea pollution.
The Barcelona Convention envisages the adoption of a number of protocols on assistance to the Mediterranean countries in adopting legislation on the management of coastal areas.