Following the foundation of the United Nations Environment Programme, and in the view of  the decision reached at the Stockholm Conference, the requirement of founding special Regional Seas Programme within UNEP (UNEP/RSP) has become a priority. Since the beginning of the implementation of the Programme, the countries of the Mediterranean area have been making significant efforts in accomplishing the objectives for the protection of Mediterranean. It that respect, the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) was established within UNEP in 1975, for the purpose of realizing the first programme for the protection of a regional sea. Today, UNEP Regional Seas Programme includes 16 regions and over 140 coastal states and territories.

Strong cooperation of UNEP/MAP has been achieved over time with the European Commission, UN Economic Commission for Europe, UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Global Environment Facility, World Health Organisation and other international organisations and institutions.

Normative framework of MAP encompasses the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean ⁽¹⁾ and its six protocols. The role of the Secretariat of the Barcelona Convention is performed by the UNEP/MAP Coordinating Unit - MEDU.

For the last three decades, Mediterranean Action Plan has provided support to the governments of the contracting parties to the Barcelona Convention in the evaluation and control of the pollution of the sea environment through the assistance in creation of the national policies in the environmental area, improving thereby their ability to identify the possibilities for the rational use of natural resources, in the manner that enables protection and conservation of the environment. The Barcelona Convention and its protocols, as legal framework for the implementation of the Mediterranean Action Plan, has contributed significantly to the improvement of the environment of the sea ecosystem and coastal areas and to the establishment of the system for sustainable development of the Mediterranean.

Montenegro and the Mediterranean Action Plan

Following the independence of Montenegro, the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiated the process of regulating full membership of Montenegro in UNEP/MAP.  Since the acquiring of the status of a contracting party to the Barcelona Convention was the precondition for membership in UNEP/MAP⁽²⁾, the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Protection has also initiated the procedure for ratification of the following:
• Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean;
• Protocol Concerning Cooperation in Preventing Pollution from Ships and, in Cases of Emergency, Combating Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea;
• Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities;
• Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean;
• Protocol on the Prevention of Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.

After the completion of the parliament procedure, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs deposited instruments of ratification on 19 November 2007. The acquisition of full membership of Montenegro in MAP was formalised during 15th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention that was held in Almeria from 15 to 18 January 2008.

With respect to the further preparation of the legislative framework based on the standards adopted at the MAP level, the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Protection has initiated the procedure of joining Montenegro to the Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management in the Mediterranean.

The final version of the draft Protocol was presented at the 15th Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention that was held on 20-21 January 2008 in Madrid. The political director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed the Protocol on behalf of the Government of Montenegro.