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.