i) to carry out underwater observations to widen the knowledge about the distribution of some target (vulnerable, rare, habitat forming, etc.) species,
ii) to monitor permanent sites, to be followed seasonally, in order to analyse the variations and shifts in community composition, both on a short term (seasonal) and long term (interannual) basis (these sites are currently used also as training areas for students in courses of Marine Biology),
iii) to keep trace of water column temperature.
A wide documentation about this project is available in the web site (www.progettomac.it) and divers who will adhere to the initiative, will dive togehter with marine biologists and will log on special underwater image sheets (furnished by the project) the organisms observed as well as environmental data collected during their dive. All these informations will be then uploaded on the Progetto M.A.C. website, becoming available to everybody.
Progetto M.A.C., by building this detailed knowledge of the distribution of the marine life, aims to gain the cooperation of the managers of coastal areas in order to put effective management schemes in place, protecting this way the fragile marine environment in a more effective way.
All these informations, well organized and available in Internet, will also be complementary to other ongoing long term monitoring programmes which made possible the inclusion, since 2005, of the Portofino MPA in the SPAMI (Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Interest) network, according to the decision of the RAC/SPA Office (UNEP, Tunis) (UNEP, 2005).