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THE PELAGOS AGREEMENT

The Pelagos Agreement was signed in Rome Activities under the Agreement include: the
on November 25, 1999 by France, Italy and the financing of numerous scientific studies, namely
Principality of Monaco and came into effect on thanks to national funds; the implementation
February 21, 2002 to create a Mediterranean of binding national legislation; the community
sanctuary for marine mammals. partnership charter aimed at involving local
actors in the Sanctuary; training, namely with
The Sanctuary covers a maritime area of 87,500 the support of the Parc National de Port-Cros;
km2 and 2,022 km of coastline including the support for ACCOBAMS’ High Quality Whale
maritime territory of five Regions (Provence- Watching® label developed with Pelagos for
Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Corsica, Liguria, Tuscany and whale-watching guides operating in natural
Sardinia) and 241 municipalities. habitats, and support for systems to reduce
collisions between ships and large cetaceans
The goal of the Pelagos Agreement is to protect such as the REPCET ® tool developed by the
marine mammals and their habitats from threats Souffleurs d’Ecume association.
deriving from human activity such as pollution,
noise, collisions with ships, accidental capture, The Pelagos Sanctuary is on the list of Specially
disturbances due to irresponsible whale- Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance
watching practices, etc. (SPAMI). It is the largest marine protected area
in the Mediterranean and the only international
Eight species of cetacean are regularly present in MPA devoted to the protection of marine
the Sanctuary, including five dolphin populations, mammals.
Ziphius (Cuvier’s beaked whale), sperm whales
and fin whales.

The Pelagos Sanctuary is managed by the
governments of France, Italy and the Principality
of Monaco with the support of a permanent
Secretariat based in Monaco and the advice
and guidance of the Scientific and Technical
Committee. Each country is responsible for
applying the Agreement’s provisions within its
own territory.

www.sanctuaire-pelagos.org