The QUIETMED Project is funded by DG Environment of the European Commission within the call “DG ENV/MSFD Second Cycle/2016”. This call funds the next phase of MSFD implementation, in particular to achieve regionally coherent, coordinated and consistent updates of the determinations of GES, initial assessments and sets of environmental targets by July 2018, in accordance with Article 17(2a and 2b), Article 5(2) and Article 3(5) of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC). The QUIETMED project aims to enhance cooperation among Member States (MS) in the Mediterranean Sea to implement the Second Cycle of the Marine Directive and in particular to assist them in the preparation of their MSFD reports by 2018 through: i) promoting a common approach at Mediterranean level to update GES and Environmental targets related to Descriptor 11 in each MS marine strategies ii) development of methodological aspects for the implementation of ambient noise monitoring programs (indicator 11.2.1) iii) development of a joint monitoring programme of impulsive noise (Indicator 11.1.1) based on a common register, including gathering and processing of available data on underwater noise. The Project has the following specific objectives: – Achieve a common understanding and GES assessment (MSFD, Article 9) methodology (both impulsive and continuous noise) in the Mediterranean Sea. – Develop a set of recommendations to the MSFD competent authorities for review of the national assessment made in 2012 (MSFD, Article 8) and the environmental targets (MSFD, Article 10) of Descriptor 11- Underwater Noise in a consistent manner taking into account the Mediterranean Sea Region approach. – Develop a common approach to the definition of threshold at MED level (in link with TG Noise future work and revised decision requirements) and impact indicators. – Coordinate with the Regional Sea Convention (the Barcelona Convention) to ensure the consistency of the project with the implementation of the EcAp process. – Promote and facilitate the coordination of underwater noise monitoring at the Mediterranean Sea level with third countries of the region (MSFD Article 6), in particular through building capacities of non-EU Countries and taking advantage of the ACCOBAMS/UNEP/MAP cooperation related to the implementation of the Ecosystem Approach Process (EcAp process) on underwater noise monitoring. – Recommend methodology for assessments of noise indicators in the Mediterranean Sea basin taking into account the criteria and methodological standards defined for Descriptor11 (Decision 2010/477/EU, its revision and Monitoring Guidelines of TG Noise). – Establish guidelines on how to perform sensor calibration and mooring to avoid or reduce any possible mistakes for monitoring ambient noise (D 11.2.1). These common recommendations should allow traceability in case the sensor give unexpected results and help to obtain high quality and comparable data. – Establish guidelines on the best signal processing algorithms for the preprocessing of the data and for obtaining the ambient noise indicators (D 11.2.1). – Implement a Joint register of impulsive noise (D11.1.1) and hotspot map at Mediterranean Sea Region level by impulsive noise national data gathering and joint processing. – Enhance collaboration among a wide network of stakeholders through the dissemination of the project results, knowledge share and networking.

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