What do the UNDP/GEF Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystems (CLME+) Project, the Italian-funded Biodiversity for Sustainable Development Project and the Ecosystem-Based Management sub-project in the North-Brazil Shelf all have in common? They are all key examples of efforts in the Wider Caribbean to apply a holistic approach (ecosystems-based management) to managing the use of the region’s coastal and marine resources, in an effort to preserve ecosystems and safeguard human well-being.
The Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems are one of the most diverse in the world. Almost 10% of the world’s coral reefs, and around 20% of the world’s remaining mangrove forests are located within this region. Shared living marine resources in the region have become increasingly impacted by habitat degradation, unsustainable fisheries practices and pollution.
Our environment is the result of the interaction of many components within the biosphere, the earth, the sea and the atmosphere, and of the interaction between those components and human activities and industries. Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) answers the need to consider all of these elements together as an inter-related system, rather than treating specific issues separately.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has been utilizing the Ecosystem-Based Management Approach to improve policy and decision-making processes across the Wider Caribbean Region while also promoting more integrated and holistic national projects. These help governments meet their national development priorities while also helping them to fulfil their obligations under the Cartagena Convention and its Protocols on Pollution and Marine Biodiversity. This legally binding instrument guides regional governments in their efforts to prevent, reduce and control pollution in the marine environment, reduce habitat degradation and contribute to the sustainable use of coastal and marine resources.
The Italian-funded Biodiversity for Sustainable Development project implemented by UNEP between 2015 and 2019, through the Cartagena Convention Secretariat, developed and promoted the use of ecosystem-based management and decision-support tools and networks for sharing information about the ecology, regulation and management of protected ecosystems in the region. This experience can now be upscaled and replicated in the rest of the Wider Caribbean Region as the main approach to better manage the use of our coastal and marine resources.
Another important effort that utilizes the ecosystems-based management approach is the UNDP/GEF Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystems Project (CLME+) financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), (2015-2020). Given its regional and comprehensive nature, the UNDP/GEF CLME+ Project seeks to address the root causes of environmental degradation in particular, the gaps and weaknesses in transboundary and cross-sectoral governance arrangements.
Through the CLME+ project, the Cartagena Convention Secretariat is currently implementing an Ecosystem-based Management sub-project in the North-Brazil Shelf Areas with pilot projects in three countries: Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname. The overall objective is to develop and test various governance arrangements (through multi-stakeholder consultations) to enable effective ecosystem-based management (EBM) of mangroves and wetlands. The project focuses on implementing at least one intervention in participating countries to restore mangroves and mitigate pollution of coastal mangroves and wetlands.
Mangrove forests host very dense biodiversity and are some of the most productive ecosystems for biomass and food supply in the world. They play a role in preventing coastal erosion and improving resilience against extreme climatic events, while at the same time acting as major sequesters of carbon dioxide. Mangroves are a model ecosystem for testing an ecosystem-based management approach which can be applied to address their various threats, such as human activities and climate change
Mangroves and other associated plant communities are critical ecosystems for the North Brazil Shelf and the three selected countries. Not only do they provide numerous ecosystems services, but also livelihood opportunities for coastal communities.
The EBM activities being implemented in the three countries are innovative and participatory. This approach addresses the three-priority ocean-related problems in the Wider Caribbean Region- pollution, habitat degradation and unsustainable fishing - in a holistic way and beyond a sectoral management approach. This will be key to maintaining viable healthy coastal and marine ecosystems in the region.
Although the approach is being implemented at specific pilot sites in the three countries, best practices and lessons learnt will be used as a basis for replication and upscaling to the Wider Caribbean Region and within the framework of the Cartagena Convention.
For each of the site-specific project interventions, aerial surveys and satellite imagery are being used to determine hotspots for pollution and ecosystem degradation. Samples of plant and animal species are collected and analysed to better identify the sources of pollution. These projects have adopted context-based solutions to preserve, and where possible, restore the stressed ecosystem while protecting the health and wellbeing of local communities.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) is the national agency implementing the EBM approach to address the impacts of land-based sources of pollutants on critical coastal habitats, such as mangrove swamp, and the implementation of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) in the CLME+ region. This is to ensure the sustainable and climate-resilient provision of goods and services from shared living marine resources.
The aim of the intervention in Trinidad and Tobago is to reduce pollution from organic and chemical pesticides used in agricultural activities in the southern section of the Caroni Swamp. This will be done through the implementation of community-based conservation interventions for rehabilitating degraded mangrove forest. The Caroni Swamp, a Ramsar site, was selected as the study site for the EBM sub- component as it is the largest mangrove forest in Trinidad, supports a wide variety of organisms and provides livelihood opportunities such as ecotourism and fisheries (fish, oyster and crab). Since it is at the hydrological end point of the Caroni River Basin, the largest river basin in Trinidad and Tobago, it is the recipient of land-based discharges from agricultural, industrial and domestic sources from the most densely populated area of Trinidad. Farming activity in the study site of the Cunupia and New Guayamare watersheds were identified and mapped. Activities include conducting surveys with farmers in these watersheds by using “EpiCollect” software application, face-to-face and telephone interviews to gain knowledge on major crops, soil health, pests and diseases, and existing farming practices along with their use of chemicals - pesticides and fertilisers.
Based on survey data, training and sensitization workshops will be designed and executed for the farmers on the judicious use of pesticides and fertilizers, as well as, alternatives in the management of economically important pests and diseases in the area. These workshops will be facilitated by University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Demonstration sites will be established to show the use of alternatives for selected crops against high application of pesticides and fertilizers to reduce fertilizer usage (and hence reduce nutrient pollution runoff) while maintaining agricultural output.
According to Dr. Darryl Banjoo, Senior Research Officer at the Institute of Marine Affairs, the EBM project’s value was centred on “improving human wellbeing and livelihoods” while preserving the environment using a multi-stakeholder, intersectoral approach along with consultation with persons from the community, resource users, government, and private sectors. Pesticides and heavy metal testing in fish and crabs harvested for human consumption in the coastal and mangrove areas are being conducted by IMA while bacterial analyses in oyster tissues and water in the Caroni Swamp have already been carried out to determine suitability of consumption and potential risk to human health. Baseline water and sediment quality is being assessed at intervals, prior to and following the demonstration project, to determine whether there is pollution reduction based on the interventions. The project’s successes lessons learnt will be documented and shared with the wider farming community in the Caroni River Basin and upscaled in other watersheds.
In Suriname, the government will collaborate with local non-governmental organizations to emphasize the engagement of local communities and to support them technically and financially. The government will also implement actions to reduce pollution levels and rehabilitate degraded mangroves in the North Coronie area. Pollution hotspots will be mapped and community members trained to collect samples within the mangroves, in order to conduct biochemical analyses and apply the appropriate stress reduction actions to be taken within the EBM approach.
In Guyana, the UNEP Cartagena Convention Secretariat is collaborating with the national Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Wellington Park located in Region Six - East Berbice Corentyne was selected for the application of an EBM approach and related governance arrangements. The site was selected based on the visibly high level of pollution at the site, stemming from the sawmilling activities that may be the cause of the current wood-based sawdust deposits at the site. The site also sits at a critical point on the coast, where overtopping of the seawalls has become common during high tides.
The analysis of the biochemical and physical structures of the mangrove reserve is almost completed. A sampling protocol was created and distributed to community members of the Wellington Park area, who were trained to aid in the collection of water, soil, vegetative, vertebrate and invertebrate samples.
Based on the results to date, the EPA has been working to create new means of waste disposal for the logging industry. They are in the process of solidifying a mutually beneficial relationship between the operators within the logging industry and a local energy company, Skeldon Energy Incorporated. The sawmill owners will now be able to sell their sawdust waste to Skeldon Energy which utilizes the waste in their combustion furnaces. This relationship would benefit the local community, safeguard the industry and protect the mangroves currently under threat.
According to Troy Broomes, Environmental Officer at the Environmental Protection Agency, “everything and everyone is more interconnected” in Guyana because of their small population size (less than one million people) and they are “proud of that interconnectivity.” He also added that, “the Ecosystem Based Management approach has provided an avenue for policymakers in governmental and other implementing agencies to connect with the local industries and communities that the policies will affect. The EBM approach is based on inclusivity and we are proud to incorporate its methods in Guyana.”
The UNEP Cartagena Convention Secretariat continues to promote an integrated approach to the ecological challenges of the region. The EBM approach will be mainstreamed as it allows governments to find adequate solutions that acknowledge the interdependency of human communities and their natural environments. This is based on the links between environmental degradation, health risks, and economic opportunities for local communities. Given that environmental issues are by nature transboundary, strengthening international cooperation and governance will remain a core factor in ensuring human wellbeing and nature conservation in the Wider Caribbean.
