The Mediterranean Small Islands Initiave is based on the exchange and sharing of knowledge. Its aim is to set-up an effective and practical management structure for microcosms, achieved through scientific and technical missions in the field, with the ultimate objective of developing resource protection/conservation projects. The initiative is focussed on the long-term vision rather than the logistical details of these project. Rather the initiative should facillitate interactions among administrators, scientists, and experts in natural resources and biodiversity conservation. Its first step will be to set up programmes of field research, to experiment and to innovate. Here, priority is given to concrete, simple and pragmatic proposals. Rangers, technicians, scientists, naturalists, representatives of organisations and associations will meet togethner for a common purpose: to promote the protection of the small islands of the Mediterranean Sea and set up effective schemes that will have a real impact on their endemic ecosystems and the local populations.