Coastal property 'banned' in italy

Property development has been banned within 100 meters of Italy’s coastline…

A total of 14 Mediterranean countries signed a protocol of agreement in Madrid, under which they undertake to stop all building less than 100 metres (about 328 feet) from the Coast.

However several countries refused to sign, including: Cyprus, Bosnia, Turkey, Lebanon, Libya, Bosnia, and Egypt, but said they may sign later this year.

Those who have agreed to ban building 100m from the high water line include: Algeria, Croatia, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Spain, and Tunisia.

Historic protocol

Mr. Fernández Pérez told a press conference that the new protocol would require administrations to create “a new way of looking at the sea.” His boss was similarly pleased with the agreement. “This is a historic protocol,” said Cristina Narbona, Spain’s environment minister, “and it gives us a very powerful structure with which to combat the negative effects of overdevelopment.”

Participants also issued the Almería Declaration, which requires all member states to develop a list of threatened marine species by 2011, to establish a “broad and coherent network” of protected coastal areas by 2012, and to promote renewable energies in the region.

But it is the shoreline construction ban that will have the most impact. Nearly 40% of the Mediterranean Coast already is cluttered with highways and buildings, and experts believe that figure could climb to 50% in the next 20 years.

Government ‘pressured to respond’

The initiative comes at an important moment, as experts warn that the rising sea levels caused by global warming will soon threaten human habitats. “This is the first time that the Barcelona Convention has responded to climate Change,” says Banu Dokmecibasi, Greenpeace Mediterranean’s oceans campaign director. “Governments have tried to ignore the issue for years, but more public and media awareness has pressured them to respond.”

Spain has already begun efforts to clear the outermost 100 meters of its coastline – both Mediterranean and Atlantic – of human-made elements. In 2007, the government razed some 655 illegal structures near the water, and its newly debuted “Strategy for Coastal Sustainability” calls for the removal of thousands more.

The most difficult steps are still to come, however. “I know from our experience in Spain that compliance is the problem,” warns the environment minister, Ms. Narbona. “Every single one of the provisions agreed to in Almería already exists in Spanish law. There just hasn’t been sufficient will or awareness to enforce them.” To address that challenge, the Almería protocol creates a committee to ensure that the convention’s provisions are carried out.