2 results
1 - The Symposium on Marine EBM in the Wider Caribbean Region
- Edited by Lucia Fanning, Robin Mahon, Patrick McConney, L. Verhart
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- Book:
- Towards Marine Ecosystem-Based Management in the Wider Caribbean
- Published by:
- Amsterdam University Press
- Published online:
- 22 January 2021
- Print publication:
- 15 July 2012, pp 13-26
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Summary
Introduction
Countries of the Wider Caribbean have committed to principled ocean governance through several multilateral environmental and fisheries agreements at both the regional (e.g., the Cartagena Convention's SPAW Protocol) and international levels (e.g., the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing). They have also committed to the targets for fisheries and biodiversity conservation adopted at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). However, the ongoing challenge is to put in place the measures required to give effect to these principles at the local, national and regional levels. The ecosystem-based management/ecosystem approach to fisheries (EBM/EAF) is prominent in these agreements and in the WSSD targets. Implementing an ecosystem-wide approach that encompasses both the human and natural dimensions of ecosystems is an essential component of principled ocean governance. This approach gives prominence to the principles of sustainability, participation and precaution that are needed to effectively govern the world's oceans.
The Wider Caribbean Region is the most geopolitically diverse and complex region in the world (Fanning et al. 2009a). Throughout the region, there are many local, national, subregional, regional and international organisations pursuing various aspects of ocean management. The challenge has always been to integrate or network these to improve their effectiveness and reduce duplication. At the outset of its development, the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem (CLME) and Adjacent Areas Project took up this challenge with a focus on institutional arrangements for good governance of living marine resources. After over 10 years of development, this multi-year initiative – funded by twenty-six countries in the region and the Global Environment Facility of the World Bank – began implementation in mid-2009 and is expected to pursue EBM/EAF for the Caribbean LME and adjacent areas as a basis for ensuring the sustainable use of the region's shared living marine resources (Fanning et al. 2009a). During the development of this project, it was evident that there was a lack of clarity and specificity within the Wider Caribbean about what moving towards EBM/ EAF means for governance processes at various institutional levels and geographic scales or for specific coastal and marine resources and ecosystems.
22 - The Vision for EBM of Coral Reef Ecosystems in the Wider Caribbean
- Edited by Lucia Fanning, Robin Mahon, Patrick McConney, L. Verhart
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- Book:
- Towards Marine Ecosystem-Based Management in the Wider Caribbean
- Published by:
- Amsterdam University Press
- Published online:
- 22 January 2021
- Print publication:
- 15 July 2012, pp 323-334
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- Chapter
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Summary
Introduction
Coral reef ecosystems have great importance for the countries of the Wider Caribbean Region in terms of both use and non-use values and services. Several of the contributors to this symposium attest to their importance for fisheries and biodiversity (see Ehrhardt et al. in Chapter 11; Appeldoorn in Chapter 10; Appeldoorn et al. in Chapter 12; Horrocks et al. in Chapter 9). Coral reef ecosystems support livelihoods (see McConney and Salas in Chapter 7) and provide critical ecosystem services (Schuhmann et al. in Chapter 8) including for tourism, although this aspect of their value is not developed in detail in Chapter 8. Caribbean coral reef ecosystems have been degraded by many human impacts of both marine and land-based origin (see Sweeney and Corbin in Chapter 4; Gil and Wells in Chapter 5; Yáñez-Arancibia et al. in Chapter 17). They are among the most complex and biologically diverse marine ecosystems, and will require a holistic ecosystem- based approach for their conservation and sustainable use.
This synthesis chapter presents the outputs of a group process aimed at developing a vision and way ahead for ecosystem-based management (EBM) for coral reef ecosystems in the Wider Caribbean, using the methods described earlier (Fanning et al. in Chapter 1). The chapter first describes a vision for coral reef EBM and reports on the priorities assigned to the identified vision elements. It then discusses how the vision might be achieved by taking into account assisting factors (those that facilitate achievement) and resisting factors (those that inhibit achievement). The chapter concludes with guidance on the strategic direction needed to implement the vision, identifying specific actions to be undertaken for each of the vision elements.
The Vision
The occupational breakdown of members of the Coral Reef Ecosystems Working Group reflected the diversity of affiliations present at the EBM Symposium and included governmental, intergovernmental, academic, non-governmental and private sector (fishers and fishing industry and consulting) representatives. With guidance provided by the facilitator, this diverse group of participants was asked to first address the question of “What do you see in place in 10 years’ time when EBM/EAF has become a reality in the Caribbean?”