This overview was prepared by the Regional Seas Coordinating Office, the Secretariat of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, and the Coordination Office of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (GPA) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in cooperation with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (IOC of UNESCO).