Dear Colleagues, I have the pleasure of announcing the publication of a paper dealing with conservation policy and processes in the Mediterranean: Portman M., Notarbartolo di Sciara G., Agardy T., Katsanevakis S., Possingham H., Di Carlo G. 2013. He who hesitates is lost: why conservation in the Mediterranean Sea is necessary and possible now. Marine Policy 42:270-279. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2013.03.004 Abstract. Marine conservation is urgently needed across the Mediterranean region, and much information exists to support establishment of conservation priorities and planning processes. Yet the identification of priority areas for conservation is challenging both from socio-political and ecological perspectives, and differing approaches to setting priorities have led to constraints and inertia. Based on a review of existing and proposed conservation initiatives at various scales throughout the Mediterranean, a model process is presented for furthering marine protection based on conservation priorities set at a regional scale and already endorsed internationally. This article proposes implementing marine spatial planning within the eleven Ecological and Biological Sensitive Areas (EBSAs) of the Mediterranean Sea using an 8-step process designed for moving conservation forward in this particularly complex region. The proposed process combines tenets of professional urban/regional planning and systematic conservation planning. As shown with two specific examples, despite some conventional wisdom, there is enough information in the Mediterranean Sea to move forward with ecosystem-based marine spatial management for conservation purposes using the EBSAs as a starting point – and the time is right to do so. A pdf copy of the paper can be requested from me. Regards, Giuseppe ____________________________________________________ Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Ph.D. President, Tethys Research Institute Via Benedetto Marcello 43, 20124 Milano, Italy disciara@gmail.com • +39 335 6376035 • Skype: patmos1999 www.tethys.org • www.disciara.net