1. Marine Pollution Monitoring and Assessment in the Mediterranean Region: the MED POL Programme
Francesco Saverio Civili 
MED POL Programme Coordinator
Barcelona Convention Secretariat

2. The MED POL Programme: role and functions
MED POL is the scientific and technical component of the Mediterranean Action Plan/Barcelona Convention
It assists countries to assess and control land-based pollution and fulfill the obligations set by the Convention and the Protocols
It organizes and carries out capacity building programmes
It collates, controls and analyzes national data and prepares scientific assessments and technical reports on the state of pollution

3. MED POL- Phase I (1975-1980) MED POL- Phase II (1981-1995)
• Developed the capacities of the participants laboratories/countries
• Assisted countries for the formulation of research and monitoring programmes
MED POL- Phase II ( )
• Established National Monitoring Programmes
• Established a full Data Quality Assurance programme with MEL/IAEA
• Achieved a data bank of chemical contaminants
MED POL- Phase III ( )
• Enhanced a more objective-oriented monitoring for the management of Mediterranean coastal waters and sensitive areas through a revision of its components (assessment and control)
• Initiated a new action-oriented programme based on LBS Protocol called the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) which primarily aims to achieve a targeted reduction of pollution at source

4. Components of MED POL Phase III Monitoring Activities
Trend monitoring aims to detect site-specific temporal trends of selected contaminants at hot spots and coastal/reference areas.  Considering that several decades or more are usually needed to detect trends, long-term programmes are expected to be formulated with consistent monitoring strategies and solid data quality assurance programmes.
Monitoring of inputs aims to provide estimates of loads of some major groups of pollutants (listed in LBS Protocol) to the coastal marine environment via point (rivers, municipal and industrial effluents) and non-point (atmospheric) land-based sources.
Biological effects monitoring (monitoring with biomarkers) is a part of MED POL’s monitoring activities and considered as the most direct method to assess exposure to, and impacts of, chemical contaminants at the organism level at very early stages
Compliance monitoring, referred to health-related conditions in bathing and shellfish/aquaculture waters, effluents and hot spots, represents the pollution control component.
Monitoring of eutrophication, a new component of MED POL, aims at quantifying eutrophication phenomena in selected sites

5. Trend monitoring criteria : parameters, frequency, samples

6. Compliance monitoring criteria : parameters, frequency

7. Eutrophication monitoring criteria : parameters, sampling sites ad strategy
Monitoring to be carried out:
in an affected marine site and a reference site
in an off-shore fish farm or a coastal mariculture area
in a coastal lagoon
As to the sampling strategy, frequency and spatial coverage should be established according to the following minimum requirements:
The mandatory monitoring frequency for the all mandatory parameters will be minimum 4 times per year (seasonal). Recommended to sample once a month or to achieve more frequent sampling in highly variable seasons and less frequently during more stable periods
The samplings station networks should be set as transects; each transect should have a minimum of 3 stations to achieve an optimum spatial coverage for the selected site. For each monitoring station, vertical profiles at least at three depths (surface, intermediate and bottom) have to be performed.

8. Monitoring Summary overview
Component
Matrix
Major
Parameter
Groups
Sampling Frequency
Participation
Spatial coverage
Trend
Biota
T. metals
H H
Annual
All participants*
Site specific
State
Sediment
Water
Nutrients
All participants
-----
Biological effects
Bio markers
2-4 / year
Some participants
Eutrophication
Phytopl.
4-12 / year
Or more
Few participants
St grids for each site
Loads
Rivers
Effluent
Air
Envir. par.
------
Compliance
Microb. par.
12-18/year
4-12/year

9. National Monitoring Programmes
Information obtained through country reporting:
- Annual reports
They provide information on the implementation of the programme and an evaluation of results obtained
Data transmission in standard formats

10. MED POL DATA AVAILABILITY Urban wastewater
The available data at MED POL on wastewater treatment plants include:
existence of treatment plant or not,
year of construction
degree of treatment
volume of treated and untreated wastewater,
method of discharge of treated and untreated wastewater
for coastal cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants in Albania, Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey.

11. Microbiological quality of sea water:
The following are the available data at MED POL on compliance for bathing and shellfish-growing water in Mediterranean countries:
Albania ( , )
Algeria ( and and )
Croatia (1992 and )
Cyprus ( and )
Egypt ( )
France ( )
Greece ( )
Israel ( , )
Italy ( )
Lebanon ( and )
Libya ( and 2003 and 2005)
Malta ( )
Monaco ( )
Montenegro ( )
Morocco ( , )
Slovenia ( )
Spain ( )
Syria (1992, 1994, )
Tunisia (1989, 1992, )
Turkey ( , 2005)
Ex-Jugoslavia ( )

12. Chemical pollution data (1)
Croatia
COUNTRY
Albania
NUMBER OF DATA
PERIOD
MATRIX
PARAMETER
Cyprus
France
Sediments
Trace Metals
Chlorinated pesticides
Chlorinated Biphenyl congeners
Biota
205
830
449
124
211 63 65
Italy
Israel
Greece
3049
1999
1323
7606
1266
2517
596
663
626
287
516
554
153 70
Polyaromatic hydrocarbons
522 94
Tunisia
Slovenia
526
Halogenated hydrocarbons
Turkey
Water
1717
390
471
165
134
117
112 86 92 *
Total
26070
106
213 24 60 8

13. Chemical pollution data (2)

14. Sources data: industrial pollution for the Year 2003
A Data Base (DB) covering the industrial point sources that release pollutants into air and water is available at MED POL including 9300 industrial sites in coastal areas. 
The DB contains data and information from all Mediterranean countries on loads of:
-          POPs and chlorinated organic compounds
-          Trace metals (Mercury, Lead, cadmium, Nickels and Copper)
-          Nutrients (Nitrogen and Phosphorus)
-          BOD. 
The sources are classified according to ISIC classification for industrial sectors, sub-sectors and processes. 
The sources are geo-localized by their coordinates (Longitudes and Latitudes) at river basin and/or national jurisdiction limits and/or national political distribution of locality. 
The DB is linked to a software that enables the processing of the data and information according to the needs (e.g. local total emissions, national emissions, etc…) and GIS set up.

15. The MED POL Programme: medium and long-term prospects (1)
Implementation of MED POL Phase IV ( ):
continue trend monitoring
launch river monitoring
expand eutrophication monitoring
further develop biomonitoring
carry out baseline surveys
substitute compliance monitoring with regular updating of baseline budget of emissions and releases

16. The MED POL Programme: medium and long-term prospects (2)
Harmonization of MED POL reporting system with other ongoing systems
Preparation of an Information System based on GIS including data on levels and sources
Application of the ecosystem approach by all Barcelona Convention components
Adaptation of MED POL monitoring programme once ecological and operational objectives are established