About MAMIAS
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About MAMIAS
Marine Mediterranean Invasive Alien Species — a science-driven platform for monitoring, reporting, and analysing Non-Indigenous Species data across the Mediterranean.
A shared knowledge base on non-indigenous species in the Mediterranean
MAMIAS is the regional database of marine Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) in the Mediterranean, developed and coordinated by SPA/RAC, the Specially Protected Areas Regional Activity Centre of UNEP/MAP – Barcelona Convention. Since 2012 it has brought together validated records of which species have arrived, where, when and by which pathway.
Its mission is to give the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, their national focal points, scientists and decision-makers a common evidence base: to detect new arrivals early, follow how species spread, and measure progress towards Good Environmental Status.
In doing so, MAMIAS supports the commitments of the Mediterranean countries on non-indigenous species:
Launch of MAMIAS
Establishment of the Mediterranean platform for monitoring Non-Indigenous Species, coordinated by SPA/RAC.
Validated Inventories of Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) for the Mediterranean Sea as Tools for Regional Policy and Patterns of NIS Spread
MAMIAS also becomes a data partner of EASIN, the European Alien Species Information Network.
Platform Redesign
Modern user interface, enhanced data visualisation, and improved reporting tools for researchers and decision-makers.
Explore, contribute, trust
Anyone can explore the Mediterranean's non-indigenous species records. Registered scientists can add to them. Every record is checked before it is published, so the same data can serve research and regional policy.
Explore the data
No account needed.
Contribute
Sign in to add what you know.
Trust the data
Built for science and policy.
- Names checked against WoRMSSpecies names matched to the World Register of Marine Species
- Expert reviewSubmitted records and references are reviewed before they are published
- Open licenceData reusable under CC BY 4.0, with attribution→
- Used for regional policySupports IMAP Common Indicator 6 and the MED QSR, and shares data with EASIN as a data partner↓
Where MAMIAS fits in the Barcelona Convention's assessment of the sea
The Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention judge the health of the Mediterranean through the Ecosystem Approach (EcAp). Its monitoring arm, the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP), was renewed by Decision IG.27/6 at COP 24 (Cairo, December 2025) for a third cycle running from 2026 to 2035. For non-indigenous species, that decision names MAMIAS as one of the regional databases countries build on.
- Step IEcological visionA healthy, clean, resilient Mediterranean
- Step IIStrategic goalsProtect ecosystems, cut pollution, reduce risks
- Step III11 objectives and their indicatorsNon-indigenous species are EO2, Common Indicator 6
- Step IVNational IMAP monitoringCountries monitor and report data
- Step VMED QSRRegional assessment of Good Environmental Status
- Step VIMeasuresNational Action Plans and Programmes of Measures
Step VI feeds back into Step III: targets are updated as results come in
How information on non-indigenous species travels
A starting list for every IMAP phase
At the start of each new phase, each Contracting Party updates the list of invasive species in its national monitoring programme, based on regional databases and inventories, and starts collecting data on them.
Trend and risk-based monitoring
NIS monitoring is trend monitoring focused on introduction hot spots, so that a small number of stations gives a picture of the whole region. Long, standardised datasets are the first requirement.
The MED QSR rests on quality-assured data
The MED QSR uses nationally sourced, quality-assured data reported through the IMAP Info System or other reliable sources, and judges each area as in or out of Good Environmental Status.
“…the Marine Mediterranean Invasive Alien Species database, (MAMIAS), the “Andromeda” invasive species database…”Decision IG.27/6, Annex II, paragraph 66
An eight-year cycle behind each MED QSR
Two MED QSRs have been issued so far, in 2017 and 2023. The 2023 report found for non-indigenous species:
Source: 2023 MED QSR.
Part of a wider network of databases
Non-indigenous species do not stop at regional borders, and neither should the data on them. MAMIAS shares its validated Mediterranean records with other information systems, so that the same knowledge reaches European and global assessments without being collected twice.
The European Alien Species Information Network, run by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. It brings together alien species data from many sources to support European policy.
- GFCM Observatory for non-indigenous speciesLaunched in 2023 by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (FAO) to monitor NIS in the Mediterranean and Black Sea
- WRiMSWorld Register of Introduced Marine Species
- AquaNISInformation system on aquatic non-indigenous and cryptogenic species
- OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System
- UNEP/MAP, Decision IG.27/6, Ecosystem Approach (EcAp) Policy and Roadmap 2026–2035 and Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme for the Mediterranean Sea and Coast (IMAP), COP 24, Cairo, 2025. UNEP/MED IG.27/21. Document
- UNEP/MAP, 2023 Mediterranean Quality Status Report (MED QSR), for all figures on non-indigenous species. medqsr2023.info-rac.org