In an effort to protect critical marine ecosystems and reduce threats to the region’s fisheries and tourism sectors, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a US$12.5 million Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program (CMBP), to promote conservation in high priority areas across the Eastern Caribbean.

Against the backdrop of the picturesque Grenadine island of Carriacou, United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Larry Palmer, on Friday, August 21, officially launched the Grenadine Bank component of the CMBP. The five-year initiative seeks to improve the management of marine protected areas (MPAs); reduce threats to ecosystems including coral reefs, mangroves and sea grass beds; strengthen fisheries management and promote sustainable livelihoods for coastal residents in four seascapes across five countries.

In reiterating the US Government’s commitment to protecting the region’s key marine ecosystems, Ambassador Palmer emphasized: “While we appreciate the tremendous beauty of this Grenadine Seascape, we are very mindful that it is currently under threat.”

He told his audience, which included Government Ministers, environmentalists and other key stakeholders, that while the Caribbean region had been described as one of the world’s most important biodiversity centers ,the region’s biodiversity was being degraded “at an alarming rate,” with coral reef coverage reduced by nearly one-third since the 1980s.

“Several reef-building species are acutely endangered or at risk of extinction. These changes have had an increasingly negative impact on the resilience of ecosystem services such as spawning grounds and natural barriers that protect against storm surges and sea level rise. Economic sectors like tourism and fisheries, which depend heavily upon the quality of the marine environment, are particularly affected,” noted Ambassador Palmer.

The CMBP is being primarily funded through a US$10 million investment by USAID, with an additional US$2.5 million contribution by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), which leads an NGO consortium charged with its implementation. Various activities will be implemented by NGO partners at the local and regional levels, with CARIBSAVE and Sustainable Grenadines (SusGren) working in the Grenadine Bank.

Addressing the launch, St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Minister of Fisheries, Soboto Caesar, said the current conservation initiative sought to ensure that “mother nature is protected and that generations to come can enjoy some of the resources that we enjoy today.”

“In St. Vincent and the Grenadines we are moving toward private /public sector joint venture enterprises to ensure that we further explore our marine resources. But in our quest to develop as small multi-island states, we have to ensure that we do not take the word exploitation to illogical conclusions, it is very easy to do so. Life is a balance, we have to ensure at all times that we pursue development with that balance,” he cautioned.

Describing Carriacou as “one of the few remaining unspoilt spots in the region,” Grenada’s Fisheries and Environment Minister , Roland Bhola, lamented that through our everyday activities as humans, we were “rapidly destroying ” our natural environment.

Mission Director , Christopher Cushing, right , engages Sabota Caesar and USAID;s Environmental Specialist , Joth Singh.

“I want from the outset to commend and thank USAID, TNC and all the other partners that saw it necessary to first and foremost provide the funding, and secondly to provide the persons who have the ability, the knowledge, the skills and the experience to work with us and to assist us in protecting what nature has provided for us,” he said.

Minister Bhola also made an appeal for greater cooperation and collaboration to champion regional conservation efforts with increased emphasis on educating, fisher folk, community groups and especially school children to foster sustainability.

Providing an overview of the multi-country project, Shelden Cohen, the CMBP’s Chief of Party, said its focus was on promoting healthy marine environments and the associated tangible benefits for fishers and community members.

“Human benefits are really at the heart of this program and I can’t emphasize that enough,” he stressed.

Mr. Cohen further noted that the CMBP supported effective governance of marine resources within the four seascapes in order to foster long-term conservation of marine life and biodiversity; maintain economic benefits derived from a healthy marine environment and to improve the well-being of local communities adjacent to targeted marine sites.

According to the CBMP spokesman, the four seascapes located in Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, were the proverbial “jewels in the crown of marine resources in the Caribbean.”

The launch, which took the form of a one-day workshop, allowed stakeholders, including youth participants, to discuss priorities and determine strategies for moving forward with conservation goals. Following presentations from the implementing agencies and organizations, attendees collaborated to establish short term goals as well as two-year work plans.

For further information on the CMBP, please contact:

Aden Forteau, Grenadine Bank Seascape Coordinator, The Nature Conservancy at aden.forteau@tnc.org

Joth Singh, Program Development Specialist, USAID, Eastern and Southern Caribbean at josingh@usaid.gov