Introduction
The project for Preparedness for Oil-polluted Shoreline clean-up and Oiled Wildlife interventions – POSOW, coordinated by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC), is a two year project co-funded by the European Commission under the Civil Protection Financial Instrument. Its aim is to improve preparedness for and response to marine pollution in the Mediterranean region. It is implemented by REMPEC and its partners, namely the Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution (CEDRE), the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Sea Alarm Foundation, and the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR).
Objectives
The project POSOW aims at establishing regional cooperation synergy in the field of marine pollution through the enhancement of knowledge and capacities of operators (professionals and volunteers) working in national civil protection services, in municipalities (local community) and in well-established NGOs, in European coastal countries of the Mediterranean Sea, namely Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Slovenia and Spain. The material developed during the project will be made available to other interested countries and regions. This project contributes to the harmonization of procedures and tools useful to respond to shoreline pollution following an accidental or operational spill at sea. A training package and manuals are developed for the essential preparation of NGOs and volunteers to work promptly and safely to support authorities in charge of the response operations in case of a spill.
Expected results
Packages consisting of existing and developed manuals and material for training and operation purposes on volunteer management, oiled shoreline assessment, oiled shoreline clean-up, and oiled wildlife response, will be developed and made available on the project website. The material will serve to train trainers from the beneficiary countries to provide them with the required knowledge to replicate the training on their own at local and national level. The subsequent pool of trained volunteers will be registered in the Volunteer Database accessible from the project website to ensure follow-up and access to the information by stakeholders. The first year is devoted to the development of manuals, training and information materials. The training for the trainers and volunteers will be held in 2013, in the eight beneficiary countries of the project.