Protecting the small sentinel islands of the Mediterranean and Macaronesia (CAIPIM)

The Mediterranean-Macaronesian basin is home to exceptional terrestrial and marine biodiversity, particularly present on its 15,000 islands. These island ecosystems are unique, of high biogeographic interest, often rare, endangered or endangered on the near continent. This is even more striking on small islands or islets  with an overland surface of less than 1000ha. As current refuges of biodiversity and guardians of the ecological history of these areas, small islands are sentinels of the effects of long-term global changes. Geographically and biologically, Macaronesia (which covers the islands and archipelagos of south-west Europe and north-west Africa) and the Mediterranean share many similarities, with large abundant taxonomic groups similar.

• Assess the ecological role of small Mediterranean and Macaronesian islands as refuges for biodiversity and sentinels of global change.
• Support management and restoration actions in small pilot islands and assess impacts of past operations.
• Strengthen the IMP initiative and promote the ecological importance of the small islands of the Mediterranean and Macaronesia at national and international level.

Using a dual approach «science-to-policy» and «science-to-management», the project will produce and structure scientific data on IMPs and IMAs to inform scientifically robust advocacy for their preservation and promote effective management and ecosystem restoration activities. The CAIPIM project will draw on local management actors and renowned research organizations at national and international levels.

At the thematic level, the IMP initiative and its interest in small islands is a precursor in the Mediterranean and at the origin of a network of actors unique of its kind. Its approach, based on cooperation between public institutions, civil society and the research community, is again particularly innovative.On the scientific level, the CAIPIM project contributes significantly to the knowledge of small islands, and in particular small continental islands, by allowing multiple points of comparison thanks to its multiscalar approach and by integrating the small islands of Macaronesia in order to register this multiscalar comparison on the scale of the Mediterranean-Macaronesian hotspot, fruit of a process of coThe European Union is a major player in the devel-opment of the European Union.
The innovation of the CAIPIM project also lies in its transdisciplinarity that combines naturalistic and social sciences, also mobilizing the principles of participatory science. The CAIPIM project is part of a long-term approach to empower small island management actors through the development of simple monitoring protocols, The Commission has also set up a network of training centres for managers, which can be replicated and used directly by managers, as well as capacity building and experience-sharing.