Protocolo relativo às áereas especialmente protegidas do Mediterrâneo PROTOCOL concerning Mediterranean specially protected areas THE CONTRACTING PARTIES TO THIS PROTOCOL, BEING PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution, adopted at Barcelona on 16 February 1976, CONSCIOUS of the danger threatening the environment of the Mediterranean Sea area as a whole, in view of the increasing human activities in the region, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the special hydrographic and ecological characteristics of the Mediterranean Sea area, STRESSING the importance of protecting and, as appropriate, improving the state of the natural resources and natural sites of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as of their cultural heritage in the region, among other means by the establishment of specially protected areas including marine areas and their environment, DESIROUS of establishing close cooperation among themselves in order to achieve that objective, HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS: Article 1 1. The Contracting Parties to this Protocol (hereinafter referred to as "the Parties") shall take all appropriate measures with a view to protecting those marine areas which are important for the safeguard of the natural resources and natural sites of the Mediterranean Sea area, as well as for the safeguard of their cultural heritage in the region. 2. Nothing in this Protocol shall prejudice the codification and development of the law of the sea by the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea convened pursuant to resolution 2750 C (XXV) of the General Assembly of the United Nations, nor the present or future claims and legal views of any State concerning the law of the sea and the nature and extent of coastal and flag State jurisdiction. Article 2 For the purposes of the designation of specially protected areas (hereinafter referred to as "protected areas"), the area to which this Protocol applies shall be the Mediterranean Sea area as defined in Article 1 of the Convention for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution (hereinafter referred to as "the Convention") ; it being understood that, for the purposes of the present Protocol, it shall be limited to the territorial waters of the Parties and may include waters on the landward side of the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured and extending, in the case of watercourses, up to the freshwater limit. It may also include wetlands or coastal areas designated by each of the Parties. Article 3 1. The Parties shall, to the extent possible, establish protected areas and shall endeavour to undertake the action necessary in order to protect those areas and, as appropriate, restore them, as rapidly as possible. 2. Such areas shall be established in order to safeguard in particular: (a) - sites of biological and ecological value, - the genetic diversity, as well as satisfactory population levels, of species, and their breeding grounds and habitats, - representative types of ecosystems, as well as ecological processes; (b) sites of particular importance because of their scientific, aesthetic, historical, archaeological, cultural or educational interest. Article 4 The Parties to this Protocol shall, at their first meeting, formulate and adopt, if necessary in cooperation with the competent international organizations, common guidelines and, if needed, standards or criteria dealing in particular with: (a) the selection of protected areas; (b) the establishment of protected areas; (c) the management of protected areas; (d) the notification of information on protected areas. Article 5 The Parties may strengthen the protection of a protected area by establishing, within the area to which this Protocol applies, one or more buffer areas in which activities are less severely restricted while remaining compatible with the purposes of the protected area. Article 6 1. If a Party intends to establish a protected area contiguous to the frontier or to the limits of the zone of national jurisdiction of another Party, the competent authorities of the two Parties shall endeavour to consult each other with a view to reaching agreement on the measures to be taken and shall, among other things, examine the possibility of the establishment by the other Party of a corresponding protected area or the adoption by it of any other appropriate measure. 2. If a Party intends to establish a protected area contiguous to the frontier or to the limits of the zone of national jurisdiction of a State which is not a party to this Protocol, the Party shall endeavour to work together with the competent authorities of that State with a view to holding the consultations referred to in paragraph 1. 3. If contiguous protected areas are established by two Parties, or by one Party and by a State which is not a party to this Protocol, special agreements may provide for the means whereby the consultation or the collaboration contemplated in paragraphs 1 and 2 respectively may take place. 4. If a State which is not a party to this Protocol intends to establish a protected area continguous to the