Mediterranean Marine Avifauna Population Studies and Conservation

May I first congratulate, inconditionally, the Association MEDMARAVIS for organizing this symposium and for inviting me re presenting the Sardinian Ministry of the Environment. I would like to assert that such initiatives help a great deal and in a concrete way, Heads of government departments in charge of land use and natural resources. At this first symposium of the Mediterranean Marine Avifau na I must congratulate the scientific faculty for proposing such an ample spectrum of high quality papers dealing with diverse parts of the Mediterranean and beyond. I am sure that their con tributions will further scientific research, will help to pro tect our environment and will lead, more especially, to the ma nagement and conservation of seabirds. To know in order to manage has often been said at this sym posium. In fact, it is not possible to manage thoughtfully and rationally the natural resources without knowing more profound ly how they function. This reasoning is also valid on a more ge neral scale: regional planning of human activities should not disregard the evaluation of the ecosystem.