<P>Providing a comprehensive analysis of the current legal basis for the establishment and further development of area-based conservation tools in the Mediterranean Sea, this book explores provisions under international law and the relevant region frame works to explore transboundary marine protected areas (MPAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) implemented at sub-regional level. Under the European Union¿s 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, EUmember States will be responsible for designating the additional protected and strictly protected areas, either by expanding or completing the so-called ¿NATURA 2000¿ Network or under national protection schemes through the establishment of national MPAs, including possible transboundary MPAs and OECMs established in accordance with the provisions of the relevant regional seas conventions. This book provides a discussion of the juridical status of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas as parts of a wider enclosed or semi-enclosed Medit