[1][2] The Protocols are part of a wider international effort aimed at protecting the Mediterranean Sea, i.e. the MAP, a programme co-ordinated by UNEP the origins of which go back to the Barcelona Convention of 1976 for Protection against Pollution in the Mediterranean.
Treaties and protocols providing for the specific protection of certain sites in these regions have also been adopted.
The decision to include an area in the SPAMI List is taken by consensus by the contracting parties during their periodic meetings.
The Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) was established by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention in order to help the Mediterranean countries implement the 1995 Protocol.
It is based in Tunis, as part of a host agreement signed in 1991 between Tunisia and UNEP.