In the last few years several States have established specially protected marine areas under their domestic legislation. At the international level the trend towards providing an increased protection to certain marine spaces has also been reflected in a number of treaties and declarations. This volume reviews the recent developments in the field of specially protected marine areas and preservation of the marine environment in general with particular emphasis on a specific region, the Mediterranean Sea. Special attention is devoted to the latter for three reasons. First, the regional framework for the protection of the environment in the Mediterranean (the so-called Barcelona system) has recently been updated and strengthened. Second, the Mediterranean is a typical example of the category of semi-enclosed seas where international cooperation between the bordering States should be particularly encouraged in various fields; this also explains why the scope of this book has been enlarged to also cover fisheries, a field which is closely connected to the sustainable development of marine areas. Last and least, the parochial inclination of the editor also influenced his choice. To complete the picture the relevant texts have been reproduced and a series of maps showing some specially protected marine areas have been drawn.

The Barcelona Convention and Protocols represent the first detailed and co-ordinated effort by UNEP to manage the environmental clean-up and maintenance of a large region. The Convention and Protocols are being implemented through the Mediterranean Action Plan which the author examines in some detail along with the relevant documents and agreements. This book is an important landmark in the study of international environmental law. The Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution, 1976, and its four subsequent Protocols to date is at the heart of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) regional system of co-operation known as the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP). This book presents an authoritative analysis of the MAP as it has evolved over almost two decades and outlines its characteristic features as a model for UNEP's Regional Seas programme. The texts of the Convention and the Protocols are accompanied by a comprehensive collection of related documents which illustrate the major institutional and operational features of a pioneering regional environmental protection regime. Dr Raftopoulos, who is himself a consultant to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), and to MAP, gives an authoritative, first-hand account and evaluation of the achievements of a pioneering and innovative venture in regional co-operation.

In Regional Co-operation and Protection of the Marine Environment Under International Law: The Black Sea, Nilufer Oral examines the regional co-operation mechanism for protection and preservation of the Black Sea marine environment within the framework of international law, and subsequently identifies the necessary components for a robust regional regime based on best legal practices. The book provides a thorough review of the complex modern challenges related to the Black Sea, with particular emphasis on biodiversity, fisheries, land-based pollution and vessel-based sources of pollution. A history of regional co-operation in the Black Sea offers an enlightening comparison to the development of regional co-operation in international law, in particular, to Part IX of the 1982 United Nations (Montego Bay) Convention on the Law of the Sea. Further comparative analyses, such as the existing regional regime of the Black Sea as established under the 1992 UNEP Regional Seas Programme, and selected regional seas programmes, including the acquis communautaire of the European Union, cohere into a firm foundation of present findings, upon which basis the author makes recommendations for the future. All those interested in the Law of the Sea, international environmental law, and fisheries management will find a critical new text in Regional Co-operation and Protection of the Marine Environment Under International Law: The Black Sea.