Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 14259433

Scientific monitoring and promotion of the conservation of a newly discovered Mediterranean monk seal colony at the island of Evia,Greece

MOm/The Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal is a non-profit, non-governmental, environmental organisation established in 1988. Today, more than 8,500 members from Greece and from abroad support the activities of the organisation. MOm’s mission is “the protection of the marine and coastal environment, focusing on the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal. Key tools to accomplish this mission include the activation of the country’s institutional framework towards the conservation of nature, as well as, the provision of information and the raising of the public’s environmental awareness among citizens and stakeholders. These tools must be based on and substantiated by concrete scientific evidence”. MOm, for more than two decades, has implemented consistently and continuously specific activities at the national and local level in the following fields: • Elaboration of conservation strategies for marine and coastal sites • Promotion of the establishment of protected areas • Implementation of management plans in protected areas • Elaboration of management plans • Scientific research • Surveillance and guarding of protected areas • Establishment and operation of a National Monk Seal Information Network • Rescue and rehabilitation of orphan or wounded animals • Public awareness and sensitisation • Environmental education in schools throughout the country In acknowledgement of MOm’s contribution to the conservation of nature, MOm was accepted in 1996 as a member of the IUCN and since 2010 participates in the IUCN Pinniped Specialist Group.