Capitalising BeMed initiative to reduce plastic pollution in Mediterranean Islands (CapiMed+)

The Mediterranean Sea is heavily impacted by marine litter, particularly plastics, which threaten biodiversity and key economic sectors of island communities such as fisheries and tourism. While many initiatives exist, they remain fragmented, limiting their scalability, harmonisation, and policy impact at the regional level.

The project aims to continue the actions initiated under the CapiMed-Islands capitalisation programme, drawing on the BeMed island community. Three strategic objectives have been defined:

To facilitate the BeMed Community of Practice in order to strengthen exchanges, promote partnerships and replicate effective actions on other Mediterranean islands.
Provide technical and strategic support services to members of the BeMed Community to assist them in implementing concrete projects and seeking funding. The content of these services will be defined according to identified needs and synergies between projects.
Promote and extend good practices by influencing local, national and regional policies, particularly within the framework of the Barcelona Convention and the European initiative ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’. The project is based on the commitment of the community members, formalised in the Friuli Declaration.

This project adopts a collaborative and bottom-up approach to strengthen the impact of actions on Mediterranean islands.