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coverage and the number of respondents from each region, we averaged criteria values across all
responses pertaining to each EBSA region.

The ranking of the ten EBSAs is as follows:

1 Alborán Sea
2 Gulf of Lion area
3 Nile Delta area
4 Aegean Sea
5 Ionian Sea
6 Tyrrhenian Sea
7 Balearic Islands area
8 Tunisian Plateau
9 Levantine Sea
10 Adriatic Sea

Given that the purpose of the project is to identify priority sites for possible SPAMI designation,
with the goal of creating a future representative network of marine protected areas to safeguard
Mediterranean biodiversity, we acknowledge that certain areas of the Mediterranean are
underrepresented and thus should be given first priority in work to establish SPAMI sites. Apropos,
we have placed the eastern and southern Mediterranean ecoregions first and foremost in the list of
potential SPAMI sites (Section 4.4).

We also note that the outstanding dearth of proposed EBSAs in the south-eastern portion of the
Mediterranean (Fig. 4-1) is more likely caused by lack of information than by a real scarcity of
biodiversity features deserving protection, and therefore recommend that adequate investigation
effort be devoted in those areas as soon as possible.