The periodic review by the RAC / SPA, a body of UNEP MAP (United Nations Environment Organization responsible for the implementation of the Action Plan for the Mediterranean), necessary for maintaining the status of Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance (ASPIM) is carried out every 6 years, the last dates back to 2013. The ASPIM areas are sites that are characterized by a prudent and virtuous management and by the presence of rare, threatened or endemic species, or which are of special interest from the point of view of from a scientific, aesthetic, cultural or educational point of view.
In 2013, the evaluation group, headed by Leonardo Tunesi, researcher at ISPRA and head of the National Focal Point for the Convention on Biodiversity, and formed by the experts Robert Turk of the Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Nature Conservation, Philippe Robert scientific director of the National Park of Port Cros and Simona Fraschetti of the University of Salento - CONISMA has carefully examined the conservation status of the marine habitats of Torre Guaceto and the effects on them deriving from the direct and indirect threats present, the strategies implemented for the conservation of biodiversity and the management results obtained by the Marine Protected Area in the previous 5 years, verifying their compliance with indispensable criteria for the inclusion of the area in the ASPIM list.
The evaluation team expressed a very positive opinion for the organization of the WAP and for the long-term environmental monitoring program operated here. Torre Guaceto was also elevated as an example of good practice as regards the involvement of artisanal fishermen in the shared management of marine resources. This result once again recognizes Torre Guaceto as a focal point for the conservation of biodiversity in the Mediterranean.
