ALBORAN

Toxic pollution and debris pollution of the food webs and waters, acoustic pollution from shipping, sonars and explosions, collisions with fast vessels and competition and interactions with fisheries constitute threats that currently put pressure on the populations of cetaceans, birds, turtles and their habitat.
To tackle the challenge of making human activities at sea sustainable, policy makers, scientists and users of the marine environment today have a series of legal frameworks for action.

United Nations

Conservation of the marine environment and especially the high seas requires tools of international scope. The United Nations offer this international framework with the "Law of the Sea", UNCLOS. These topics are managed under the competence of DOADLOS.
The International Maritime Organisation (I.M.O.) furthermore offers tools as MARPOL, for the regulation of maritime transport and the prevention of pollution and environmental accidents.

UNEP MAP

In 1975, only three years after the Stockholm Ministerial Conference that set up the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 16 Mediterranean countries and the European Community adopted the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP). The MAP was the first-ever plan adopted as a Regional Seas Programme under UNEP's umbrella.
Key MAP priorities for the coming decade are:

to bring about a massive reduction in pollution from land-based sources;
to protect marine and coastal habitats and threatened species;
to make maritime activities safer and more conscious of the Mediterranean marine environment;
to intensify integrated planning of coastal areas;
to monitor the spreading of invasive species;
to limit and intervene promptly on oil pollution.
to further promote sustainable development in the Mediterranean region

In 1975, 16 Mediterranean countries and the European Community adopted the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), the first-ever Regional Seas Programme under UNEP's umbrella.
In 1976 these Parties adopted the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution (Barcelona Convention. Seven Protocols addressing specific aspects of Mediterranean environmental conservation complete the MAP legal framework:

Dumping Protocol (from ships and aircraft)
Prevention and Emergency Protocol (pollution from ships and emergency situations)
Land-based Sources and Activities Protocol
Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity Protocol
Offshore Protocol (pollution from exploration and exploitation)
Hazardous Wastes Protocol
Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)

Today, 30 years later, the Barcelona Convention and MAP are more active than ever. The Contracting Parties are now 22, and they are determined to protect the Mediterranean marine and coastal environment while boosting regional and national plans to achieve sustainable development.
The Convention's main objectives are:

to assess and control marine pollution
to ensure sustainable management of natural marine and coastal resources;
to integrate the environment in social and economic development;
to protect the marine environment and coastal zones through prevention and reduction of pollution, and as far as possible, elimination of pollution, whether land or sea-based;
to protect the natural and cultural heritage;
to strengthen solidarity among Mediterranean coastal States;
to contribute to improvement of the quality of life

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as CMS or Bonn Convention) aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range. It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme, concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale.

CMS acts as a framework Convention. The Agreements may range from legally binding treaties (called Agreements) to less formal instruments, such as Memoranda of Understanding, and can be adapted to the requirements of particular regions. The development of models tailored according to the conservation needs throughout the migratory range is a unique capacity to CMS.
Several Agreements have been concluded to date under the auspices of CMS. They aim to conserve:

Populations of European Bats
Cetaceans of the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area
Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas
Seals in the Wadden Sea
African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
Albatrosses and Petrels
Gorillas and their Habitats

CMS

		The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as CMS or Bonn Convention) aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range. It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme, concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale. Since the Convention's entry into force, its membership has grown steadily to include 113 (as of 1 January 2010) Parties from Africa, Central and South America, Asia, Europe and Oceania

Accobams

		Under the framework of UNEP and CMS, ACCOBAMS is the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area. ACCOBAMS is a cooperative tool for the conservation of marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The purpose of ACCOBAMS is to reduce threats to cetaceans in Mediterranean and Black Sea waters and improve our knowledge of these animals. ACCOBAMS is the first Agreement binding the countries in these two subregions, and enabling them to work together on a matter of general interest.

European marine strategy

Since 2008, the European Union has a new Maritime Strategy that integrates all strands of power in the maritime sector. This new policy will build on Europe's strengths in marine research, technology and innovation and will be anchored in the European Union's (EU) overarching commitment to ensuring that economic development does not come at the price of environmental sustainability.
The strategic goals of the action plan include:

A European Maritime Transport Space without barriers
A European Strategy for Marine Research

National integrated maritime policies to be developed by Member States
An integrated network for maritime surveillance
A Roadmap towards maritime spatial planning by Member States
Elimination of pirate fishing and destructive high seas bottom trawling
Promotion of a European network of maritime clusters
A review of EU labour law exemptions for the shipping and fishing sectors
A European Marine Observation and Data Network
A Strategy to mitigate the effects of Climate Change on coastal regions

Habitat Directive

The European Union's contribution to the Convention for Biological Diversity is the Habitat Directive. The Habitats Directive (together with the Birds Directive) forms the cornerstone of Europe's nature conservation policy. It is built around two pillars: the Natura 2000 network of protected sites and the strict system of species protection. All in all the directive protects over 1.000 animals and plant species and over 200 so called "habitat types" (e.g. special types of forests, meadows, wetlands, etc.), which are of European importance.

IUCN

As a result of an intensive effort of bibliographic compilation, conducted by Prof. Rafael Robles, the IUCN Mediterranean Cooperation Centre organised a first international meeting in Malaga (Spain) to promote the "Initiative for the sustainable development of the Alborán Sea". In April 2009, a second reunión, organised this time in Oujda (Morocco) gave birth to three working groups, among which the GTCAT working group on cetaceans, sea birds and turtles, coordinated by Alnitak.

The "Declaration of Oujda", resulting from this second meeting has constituted therefore an important milestone in the context of strategies for the conservation of the cultural and natural heritage of the Alboran Sea.

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