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Inside this issue:

Editorial

The development of the SPAW Protocol was initiated in 1987 as a joint effort between Governments, NGO's and the Scientific Community. In 1990, the Contracting Parties to the Cartagena Convention adopted the SPAW Protocol and a year later the initial versions of its three Annexes, listing the species to be protected, were adopted. These Annexes list threatened and endangered marine and coastal flora (Annex I) and fauna (Annex II), as well as species of flora and fauna to be maintained at a sustainable level (Annex III).

With their adoption, the Governments recognized the ecological connectivity of the region, the highly migratory nature of many of its species and showed its commitment to a strong Protocol by listing entire groups of species, such as most corals, all mangroves, all sea turtles and major groups of marine mammals.

The SPAW Protocol has been recognized by international experts as arguably the most comprehensive regional wildlife protection treaty in the world and certainly the most comprehensive of its kind. It has been unique in stressesing the importance of protecting habitats as an effective method of protecting the listed species. Protection is focused on the broader scope of fragile and vulnerable ecosystems as a whole, rather than on the more limited objective of individual species. As a result, the Protocol requires States to address a much broader array of activities that may have an impact on an entire ecosystem.

Additionally, the Protocol recognizes the need for national and co-operative measures, for research and education, and public awareness, and specifically provides for the participation of the scientific community in its implementation.

Before SPAW, legal regimes for protected areas and species reflected a more limited and single-purpose approach. The ecosystem-management approach, reflected in the SPAW Protocol was, in many respects, a precursor to what the international community has subsequently endorsed on a global level. For example, in Agenda 21 and in the Global Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) signed at the earth summit in 1992.

The SPAW Protocol became international law almost ten years after it was adopted in 1990 by the Parties to the Cartagena Convention for the Protection and Development of Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region. To date, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Panama, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela are Parties of the Agreement. Other countries which have signed the treaty but have not yet ratified include France, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Caribbean region is economically dependent upon its coastlines for tourism and fishing. However, these very same resources are disappearing or are seriously threatened, with wildlife being depleted through over-exploitation and destruction of habitats. The SPAW Protocol responds to this problem through detailed provisions addressing the establishment of protected areas and buffer zones for the conservation of wildlife, both national and regional cooperative measures for the protection of wild flora and fauna, the introduction of non-native or genetically altered species, environmental impact assessment, research, education and other topics.

According to Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), "the Wider Caribbean offers a rich variety of complex ecosystems with a great abundance of plant and animal species and diverse and productive coastal and marine habitats". "The health and the beauty of this natural world is crucial to the region’s efforts to generate income, whether through the production of primary goods or increasingly through the tourism sector", said Toepfer. "I am convinced that the entry into force of the Protocol will lead to enhanced conservation and sustainable management of this region’s precious resources, but clearly all countries in the region must come on board for it to be truly effective".

However, the UNEP Secretariat recognizes that SPAW’s entry into force alone might be an illusion of progress. What really matters now is that this Treaty gets implemented effectively and that the objectives for which it was created are met. For this to happen, the remaining 19 member Governments to the Caribbean Environment Programme need to become Parties and provide their active and commited participation.

With the entry into force of the Protocol, the first meeting of the Parties is expected to take place within a few months and this will bring an opportunity to identify priorities for implementation within the regional context. The UNEP Secretariat would like to encourage all other Governments to ratify the SPAW Protocol and not miss the opportunity to shape its future development, to contribute to the meeting of the Parties and participate with other neighbouring nations in the conservation of critical coastal and marine resources of this region.

For more information on the Cartagena Convention and the SPAW Protocol, please contact:
Alessandra Vanzella-Khouri
Programme Officer
UNEP-CAR/RCU
14-20 Port Royal Street
Kingston, Jamaica
Tel: (876) 922-9267
Fax: (876) 922-9292
E-mail: avk.uneprcuja@cwjamaica.com
Internet : http://www.cep.unep.org

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Last updated: 14 July, 2000

Tel: 876 922 - 9267
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