The Government’s Department of the Environment recently attended the Mediterranean Steering Committee meeting in Brussels aimed at gathering important information on EU protected habitats and species. Representatives from the different countries in the Mediterranean were present, amongst other European Insitutions and organisations, such as the European Commission,the European Environment Agency and the European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity. Gibraltar’s representative was Stephen Warr, a Gibraltar Government Biologist.

Steering Committee meetings are part of the wider Natura 2000 Biogeographic Seminar process culminating in June 2014. Gibraltar has two Natura 2000 sites, the Rock of Gibraltar and the Southern Waters of Gibraltar. The Government is keen to continue participating in these European nature protection initiatives to highlight the importance of Gibraltar's EU protected sites and build on the knowledge and experiences gained in the management of protected sites throughout the Mediterranean. This is the first time that Gibraltar has been represented.

Minister for the Environment, Dr John Cortes stated, ‘it is vitally important that Gibraltar makes its presence felt at these meetings. It shows that we take our responsibilities for protecting the terrestrial and marine environment in Gibraltar and its waters very seriously indeed, and that we are up to the challenge of meeting our international obligations.’