CLEAN UP THE MED

Each year during the last weekend of May, since 1995, thousands of volunteers, coordinated by Legambiente, take part in Clean Up the Med, one of the largest volunteer environmental campaigns.
This event aims to clean up the Mediterranean coastline from rubbish, in order to conserve our local environment. Over 1.500 resorts, from many different countries across the Mediterranean region, pledge their support for the Clean Up the Med initiative: from Italy to Algeria, from Croatia to Egypt, from France to Jordan, from Greece to Israel, from Lebanon to Malta, from Morocco to Albania, from Palestine to Portugal, from Serbia to Montenegro, from Syria to Slovenia, from Spain to Tunisia, from Cyprus to Turkey. Adults, and children, organizations and individuals, local authorities, tourists and many others take practical steps to remove tons of rubbish which are threatening our wonderful natural heritage.
Held in conjunction with the Civil Protection Department, this campaign is also an occasion to verify the effectiveness of their intervention in case of an environmental emergency. Real life situations will be simulated, such as oil spills from tankers, to test procedures and equipments at our disposal.

SEA UNDER THREAT
Mediterranean sea has been identified as one of the 25 most important biodiversity hotspots of the planet. Yet, human activities threaten this amazing diversity of animal and plant species: illegal fishing, urbanization, illegal dumping, oil tanker transportation and the consequences of climate change. For this reasons, Clean up the Med also includes education activities to raise awareness and build commitment to protect Mare Nostrum.