The Pelagos Agreement celebrates 25 years!

The Pelagos Agreement celebrates 25 years!

More than 150 people gathered at the event ‘Pelagos living lab: 25 years of research and concerted actions’, held at the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco on Wednesday 18 December 2024 to assist at the presentation of the Pelagos Agreement’s scientific projects and to celebrate the anniversary of its first 25 years since the Agreement was signed.

The event was attended by numerous actors who have worked and continue to work for the conservation of marine mammals in the Pelagos Sanctuary over this quarter century.

The day was structured around a technical-scientific workshop that highlighted the first results of the six ongoing scientific projects funded by the Pelagos Agreement, as well as their interconnection. These projects will also produce species distribution maps and potential risk maps of the main threats (maritime traffic, underwater noise, pollutants, port-related activities, fishing activities, etc.).

Then, during the event, two new important collaborations of the Pelagos Agreement with the International Whaling Commision (IWC) and INFO/RAC were formalised, through the signing of two Memoranda of Understanding aimed at implementing concrete actions to provide the Parties with decision-making and management tools for the area.

Finally, the day launched the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Pelagos Agreement, which will take place throughout the year 2025 and which will also see the Agreement play a leading role at the 3rd United Nations Conference on Oceans.

The appointment is therefore for the year 2025 in order to continue working in favour of the Pelagos Sanctuary: a Sanctuary of all and for all.

Photos: @JC Vinaj / @Pelagos