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The Convention for the Protection and
Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region
(the Cartagena Convention) is the only legally binding environmental
treaty for the Wider Caribbean. The Convention and its Protocols
constitute a legal commitment by the participating governments to
protect, develop and manage their common waters individually or
jointly.
The Cartagena Convention was adopted in Cartagena,
Colombia on 24 March 1983 and entered into force on 11 October
1986 as the legal instrument for the implementation of the Caribbean
Action Plan. The Convention is a framework agreement setting
out the political and legal foundations for actions to be developed.
These actions are directed by a series of operational Protocols
designed to address special issues and to initiate concrete actions.
There are currently two Protocols supporting the Convention with
a third nearing completion.
- The Protocol Concerning Co-operation in
Combating Oil Spills in the Wider Caribbean Region (The
Oil Spills Protocol) was adopted and entered into force
concurrently with the Cartagena Convention;
- The Protocol Concerning Specially
Protected Areas and Wildlife in the Wider
Caribbean Region (The SPAW Protocol)
has been adopted in two stages, its text on 18 January 1990
and its Annexes on 11 June 1991. The Protocol has not yet entered
into force.
- The Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-based
Soruves and Activities in the Wider Caribbean REgion (LBS
Protocol) was adopted 6 October 1999, in Oranjestad, Aruba.
16 Contracting Parties signed the Final
Act to adopt the Protocol and four Contracting Parties have
signed the Protocol itself, signaling their intent to ratify.
The Protocol will be open for signature by the remaining 16
Contracting Parties until 7 October 2000, in Bogotá, Colombia.
The Cartagena Convention, which has been ratified
by 20 countries, governs the entire Region. Its Area of application
comprises the marine environment of the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean
Sea and the areas of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent thereto, south
of 30 north latitude and within 200 nautical miles of the Atlantic
Coasts of the States.
The legal structure of the Convention is such
that it covers the various aspects of marine pollution for which
the Contracting Parties must adopt measures. Thus, the Convention
requires the adoption of measures aimed at preventing, reducing
and controlling pollution of the following areas:
- pollution from ships
- pollution caused by dumping
- pollution from Sea-bed activities
- airborne pollution
- pollution from land-based sources and activities.
In addition, the Parties are requiered to take
appropriate measures to protect and preserve rare or fragile ecosystems,
as well as the habitat of depleted, threatened or endangered species
and to develop technical and other guidelines for the planning
and environmental impact assessments of important development
projects in order to prevent or reduce harmful impacts on the
area of application.
Being the only regional environmental treaty for
the Wider Caribbean Region, the Cartagena Convention serves as
a vehicle for the implementation of global initiatives and a global
legal instrument, such as the Convention on Biolgical Diversity,
MARPOL 73/78, the Basel Convention, the International Coral Reef
Inititative and others, at the regional level. It is also the
basic instrument for the development and enforcement of national
legislation as well as an ideal planning and management tool for
the protection and rational utilisation of the marine and coastal
environment by promoting the required co-operation among countries
and institutions.
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