Since the last update in the last issue
of CEPNEWS, the following activities have been advanced within the SPAW Sub-programme by
UNEP-CAR/RCU:
- Preparations for 1st Conference of Parties and Scientific and
Technical Advisory Committee for SPAW in Havana, Sept. 24 - 29 are underway. The
Secretariat is preparing an evaluation of the work performed by ISTAC during the past ten
years, and also part of the provisional agenda are the issues of the future work of the
SPAW Protocol. The role of ISTAC will be analyzed, as well as the criteria used for the
elaboration of the Annexes. Furthermore the work of SPAW for the upcoming biennium will be
reviewed with reference to its content and the relation to other international
conventions.
Some encouraging news for the survival of the coral reefs of the region
and the world were made available on the March 19, when the United Nations Foundation
announced the plans to fund a pioneering project aimed at the reversal of the rapidly
deteriorating state of the coral reefs of the world. The International Coral Reef Action
Network (ICRAN): A Global Partnership for Coral Reefs has potentially secured up to a
US$10 million grant, to support "flagship" coral reef management sites in four
regional seas, among them in the Wider Caribbean Region. These sites are destined to
become blueprints for managing threatened coral reefs world wide with an emphasis the role
of MPAs, local communities and the tourism sector, and protecting them from overfishing,
pollution, oil spills and growing coastal populations.The specific sites
proposed for receiving support in the Caribbean and to serve as demonstration sites for
others are Si’an kan Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, Bonaire Marine Park in the
Netherlands Antilles, Hol Chan Marine Park in Belize and Soufriere Marine Management Area
(SMMA) in St. Lucia. Other proposed sites also being targeted for assistance include
Portland Bight and Negril in Jamaica; Parque del Este in the Dominican Republic; Los
Roques, Venezuela; Providencia, Colombia; Bucoo Marine Park, Tobago; Punta Frances in Cuba
and Princess Alexandra in Turks.
See also the CEP webpage:
http://www.cep.unep.org/programmes/spaw/icri/ICRIinto.htm
for further information on ICRI and ICRAN.
- After the MPA Training of Trainers Courses in Saba (1999) and the Dominican
Republic (2000) there has been follow-up with additional local training activities in four
marine protected areas.
Local workshops have been
developed in the Netherlands Antilles, Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala: In St. Maarten dive
operators and selected MPA stakeholders from Saba, St. Maarten and St. Estatius were
educated on sustainable tourism and sustainable coastal resources use. In Mexico
individuals from NGOs and three marine MPAs were trained in management of marine/coastal
protected areas and coral reef monitoring programmes and methods. In Guatemala there will
be a local workshop held on Marine Protected Areas Management training for twenty-five
local professionals during the first week of May, as well as another one that will be held
in Honduras for the training of fifteen fishermen leaders and staff from institutions
involved in MPA Management. The MPA Training of Trainers courses are indeed bearing
bountiful fruit!
- From last issue: The Secretariat is setting up a moderated e-group for the
Parties of SPAW with the purpose of efficient dissemination of information regarding the
work in progress on the Protocol. Non-parties and relevant partner organizations might be
included in the e-group as observers to receive the benefit of being updated on a
continuous basis on SPAW matters. We hope to have further information on this interesting
activity of SPAW in the next issue.
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