Best Management Practices for Agricultural Non-Point Sources of Pollution	Report Contents Report in Word Format
	Caribbean Environment Programme Technical Report #41 1998	All CEP Technical Reports

1.1 Background

During the past two decades, awareness of the impacts of pollution on the coastal and marine environments of the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) has increased. Tourism, one of the dominant economic bases in the region, depends on a healthy coastal and marine environment. In a concerted effort to prevent the further decline of the coastal and marine environment, countries and territories, through national research institutions and international organizations, have undertaken technical and legal actions to prevent and control marine and coastal pollution within the WCR (UNEP, 1994b).

The Cartagena Convention, signed in 1983 by 29 Caribbean countries and territories (Table 1-1), represents the joint action taken to protect the coastal and marine environment and its resources in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Under the Cartagena Convention, the governments of the WCR are developing a Protocol on Marine Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities (the LBSMP Protocol). Land-based pollutants are the most serious threat to the coastal and marine waters of the WCR. The LBSMP Protocol, when it enters into force, calls for the protection of the fragile coastal and marine environment encompassing the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and those parts of the western Atlantic within 200 nautical miles of the Bahamas and Florida, down to the northern border of Brazil (Hoagland et al., 1995). The coastal and marine environment includes nearshore and open-water habitats that can be affected by land-based pollution.

As defined in the Cartagena Convention, land-based sources of marine pollution are sources emanating from land by coastal disposal, discharges from rivers, estuaries, coastal establishments, outfall structures, or any other source being on the territory of a contracting party to the Cartagena Convention. Because of the comparatively small land mass in many of the Caribbean countries and territories, much of the coastal and marine environment is generally no farther than 5 to 10 kilometers from agricultural and urban development, as well as construction and other development activities, thus establishing the need for the protection of the coastal and marine environment from impacts associated with land-based pollutants (Archer, 1987). The LBSMP Protocol addresses, among other issues, agricultural nonpoint source pollution as one of the major categories of land-based source pollution in the WCR. Agriculture is the production of crops and livestock, and the pollutants associated with it include sediment, nutrients, pesticides, pathogens, and solid waste.

Table 1-1. The Cartagena Convention signatory countries and territories

Agricultural runoff and ground water discharge, the main sources of agricultural nonpoint source pollution, could potentially lead to the environmental degradation of the coastal waters throughout the WCR. The need to strengthen the institutional capacity to manage problems related to agricultural nonpoint sources of pollution has been recognized as a critical factor in sustaining the use of coastal and marine waters in the region. At the request of the governments of the WCR and the Secretariat to the Cartagena Convention, the United Nations Environment Programme-Caribbean/Regional Co-ordinating Unit (UNEP-CAR/RCU) assists the governments in developing an Annex on appropriate controls for agricultural nonpoint source pollution under the LBSMP Protocol. This document addresses the agricultural nonpoint source aspect of land-based pollution sources and serves as the technical basis for the development and further implementation of an Annex on agricultural nonpoint sources of pollution under the LBSMP Protocol.

1.2 Purpose and Scope

In developing the LBSMP Protocol, the UNEP-CAR/RCU and various governmental and nongovernmental organization representatives recognize the absence of consistent requirements for any best management practices (BMPs) relating to agricultural nonpoint sources of marine pollution in the WCR. Furthermore, in attempting to reduce agricultural nonpoint source pollution through the implementation of the LBSMP Protocol, attention needs to be focused on the economic and technical capabilities of the countries and territories in the region. The agriculture segment of the economy in many countries and territories might be limited in its capacity to implement a BMP program when considering investment, construction, and maintenance costs. An effective BMP program needs to address the capabilities of the countries and territories within the WCR and must be applicable to the largest plantation as well as the smallest subsistence farm.

In developing this report, a site visit to several agricultural operation in Costa Rica helped provide an overview of the issues related to agricultural nonpoint source pollution control in the WCR (Appendix A). In January 1998, a meeting of regional experts on agricultural nonpoint source pollution control was held in Castries, St. Lucia. Section 6 is a summary of the experts meeting.

The purpose of this document is to describe BMPs for the cost-effective control of agricultural nonpoint source pollution from crop and livestock production. Factors considered in selecting BMPs for inclusion in this report include topographic, climatic, socioeconomic, and environmental conditions within the countries of the WCR. The document has three primary goals:

1. Improve communication regarding agricultural nonpoint source pollution among regional technical experts in the WCR, including persons from the private sector and academia.

2. Develop a compilation of current, relevant literature that focuses on the extent of agricultural nonpoint source pollution problems in the WCR and identifies low-tech, low-cost control measures to reduce them (Appendix B).

3. Improve knowledge of different types of structural and nonstructural agricultural nonpoint source pollution controls (BMPs), their benefits and limitations, and how they might be applied in the WCR.

The document contains descriptions of applicable BMPs and nonpoint source pollution information as they apply to the WCR. A discussion of agricultural practices in the WCR is included. Cultivation and livestock production practices are discussed as well. This document focuses on five pollutants (sediments, nutrients, pesticides, pathogens, and solid waste) and their adverse impacts on the coastal and marine environment of the WCR. The BMPs discussed are those which are applicable to the targeted pollutants, are cost-effective, and can be easily implemented.

The discussion of agricultural nonpoint source BMPs includes the following:

• A description of practices, including commonly used structural and nonstructural controls and, where applicable, their operation and maintenance.

• An identification of the individual pollutants or classes of pollutants that might be controlled by each practice and the resulting effects on water quality.

• A description of the factors that should be considered (e.g., topography, climate, acceptability) when implementing the practices within specific sites or locations.

A BMP is included only if the practice is technically and economically achievable in the WCR. A decision matrix is included to compare individual BMPs and the various constraints and incentives applicable to their use (Section 4). Case studies demonstrating how low-cost/low-tech BMPs have been used to reduce agricultural nonpoint source pollution are also included (Section 5).

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Tables, Figures, Acronyms | SECTION 1. | SECTION 2. | SECTION 3. | SECTION 4. | SECTION 5. | SECTION 6. | SECTION 7. | GLOSSARY | REFERENCES CITED | APPENDIX A | APPENDIX B | APPENDIX C | APPENDIX D