• Context and target
• Who can join the Charter?
• Accession process
• Assessing actions
• Who should I contact?

Context and target

In its 2007 meeting, the awareness-raising working group of the Pelagos Sanctuary French Part recognized the need to strengthen the involvement of local authorities and regional stakeholders with the Pelagos approach. This same request was formulated more directly in 2008 by several municipalities located close to the Sanctuary, expressing their determination to become partners of the Pelagos Sanctuary. The principle of a partnership Charter for municipalities of the Sanctuary - adopted by the 4^th Meeting of the Parties - emerged as a result of these meetings.

The Charter implementation aims to:

• seek to enable all local municipalities, riparian to the Sanctuary, to become partners
• promote the existence of the Sanctuary to the general public  
• create new projects and partnership programs around marine mammals
• create a strong network of local partners to promote the ideas of the Sanctuary and implement practical measures in favor of marine mammals 
• showcase the Sanctuary’s role as an active source of development and activity for local authorities
• include local authorities in the Sanctuary’s educational and awareness-raising efforts

Municipalities that have signed the Charter cana enjoy the right to fly the Sanctuary flag in all areas within their administrative jurisdiction.

Partnership Charter for the Pelagos Sanctuary ( pdf French version  or pdf Italian version ) pdf

Who can join the Charter?

All coastal municipalities whose territory is located in the Pelagos Sanctuary can join the Charter.

Accession process

The signing of the Charter of Partnership takes place following to a municipal deliberation by the relevant municipality whose territory is situated in the maritime waters of the Pelagos Sanctuary.

The text of the resolution must be consistent with both the general provisions relating to the objectives of the Pelagos Sanctuary and the specifics provided in Recommendation 4.9 of the 4^th Conference of the Parties to the Agreement of the Pelagos Sanctuary and also contains the text of the Charter as defined by instances of the Sanctuary.

Italian coastal municipalities of the Pelagos Sanctuary have the opportunity to complete this deliberation by inserting explicitly their own commitment to enforce the ban on offshore motor races on their maritime territory, as forbidden by the Italian law (art . 5 of Italian Law No. 391 of 11 October 2001).

The municipality concerned shall forward its decision to the competent national authority, who consults the National Steering Committee for assessing the municipality liabilities, according to the evaluation grid provided in the resolution 4.9 adopted by the 4^th Conference of the Parties to the Agreement.

Assessing actions

One of the main aims of the Charter is to ensure that local municipalities increase their efforts to incorporate marine mammals and the Pelagos Sanctuary in their day-to-day activities.

It was thus decided that any candidate municipality could become a Charter signatory once it declares its candidacy for the first time and shows, in its activities and according to its means, its determination to implement all measures in favor of marine mammal protection.

An initial overview of the activities of the municipalities as regards the Pelagos Sanctuary is prepared once the Charter is signed. This overview is based on the assessment form designed and jointly approved on behalf of the three countries by the awareness-raising working group.

After a period of two years, the Pelagos Sanctuary assesses the activities of each municipality on the basis of the relevant assessment form. The signatory municipality and the Pelagos Sanctuary perform the assessment jointly. This approach seems to be the most relevant, as it provides genuine explanations of the approach as well as the most accurate and objective evaluation.

Who should I contact?

Municipality could contact the national relevant authority mentioned in the table below or the Permanent Secretariat.