Download a situation analysis for the Wider caribbean region

Main challenges and opportunities for a
sustainable future
Patricia Lamelas
Given the scale of most of its
countries, the transboundary nature
of resources and ecosystems, and the
number of common institutions and
challenges, Caribbean sustainable
development demands regional
approaches. In many areas, such as
marine resource management, species
conservation and energy production,
sustainability cannot be achieved
without harmonized policies and joint
action. On a larger scale, there are
benefits to be gained from closer
collaboration between the insular
Caribbean and the coastal countries
of Central and South America, as well
as North America. Benefits can also
be gained from closer collaboration
between the insular Caribbean and
other insular regions such as Oceania,
the Mediterranean and the European
Overseas Countries and Territories.
In small islands and coastal regions,
ecosystems are small and closely
linked, activities in upper watersheds
impact on the coastal zone, and
most resources are subjected to
multiple—and often conflicting—uses.
It is therefore essential to approach
management from an integrated
perspective, and to accept that
conservation, in such a context, is
necessarily an exercise in conflict
management that must involve a
wide range of stakeholders, balance
their needs and expectations, identify
trade-offs, and give priority to the
most vulnerable and impacted groups,
particularly the poor and women.
Global Programme Team
Rue Mauverney 28
1196 Gland
Switzerland
Tel +41 22 999 0000
Fax +41 22 999 0002
[email protected]
The issues currently facing the region,
including climate change, the impacts
of global market shifts, and increasing
consumption of natural resources,
require innovation, both in economic
investments and in approaches to
conservation, in order to build positive
linkages between natural resources,
businesses and communities, and to
strengthen rather than undermine local
livelihoods. Innovation is also required
in the institutional arrangements
for environmental management, so
that these match the capacities of
small states and societies and reflect
the region’s strong commitment to
participation and partnership.
A Situation Analysis
for the Wider Caribbean Region
World Headquarters
A Summary
www.iucn.org
IUCN Caribbean Initiative
Paul Starkey, University of Reading, UK
IUCN in the insular Caribbean
IUCN has 20 members in the insular
Caribbean, including four government
agencies and 16 NGOs, as well as
three NGO members from Belize and
one in French Guiana. Although IUCN’s
recent work in the region has been
limited, some Commissions, especially
the World Commission on Protected
Areas (WCPA) and the Species Survival
Commission (SSC), have a significant
membership and WCPA has been
carrying out a number of regional
activities recently.
IUCN has been consulting with its
members and other partners in the
region to develop a programme that
responds to these unique challenges
and makes best use of IUCN’s own
capacities and interests. Some of the
areas in which IUCN’s support could
be most effective include:
1. Protecting ecosystems and
biodiversity, including helping build
the capacity of Caribbean states
to participate in major international
environmental conventions,
to develop and implement
environmental legislation and to
effectively manage protected areas.
2. Preparing for and responding to
climate change, including assisting
in the development of climate
change mitigation and adaptation
strategies that integrate biodiversity
and ecosystem considerations.
3. Encouraging sustainable and
environmentally-friendly energy
use, including the development of
strategies that make optimal use of
renewable energy sources and that
mitigate the effects of increasing
energy use on biodiversity.
4. Reducing poverty and
vulnerability, including supporting
initiatives to help poor and
marginalized stakeholders use
ecosystem goods and services
sustainably for improved
livelihoods.
5. Managing natural hazards and
conflicts, including demonstrating
how sustainable environmental
management can reduce
vulnerability.
6. Using economic instruments
and approaches, including
developing incentives and financial
mechanisms for conservation and
supporting partnerships with the
private sector.
IUCN welcomes reactions and further
suggestions as it moves forward over
the coming months in developing its
programme for the region.
This brochure is based on a more
detailed situation analysis of the
Caribbean region, prepared to inform
IUCN’s programme development.
That document is available at:
www.iucn.org/programme/
Cover photo: Paul Starkey
Where IUCN can make a difference
This situation analysis was prepared to guide the development of a Caribbean programme
for IUCN in accordance with a Resolution passed by the membership at the 3rd IUCN World
Conservation Congress in Bangkok in 2004.
Trends in human well-being: a region not
reflected in the tourism brochures
A region dependent on natural resources
for development
The region comprises 35 political units,
including 24 sovereign nations (14
island nations and 10 continental), five
Overseas Territories, three Overseas
Departments of France, two selfgoverning units of the Netherlands,
one territory of the United States
and the United States Associated
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Danièle Perrot-Maître
The region reflects huge ecological,
historical, political and cultural
diversity, as well as many
commonalities. In addition to high
levels of biodiversity and species
endemism, the main defining
characteristics of the region are
geological youth; cultural and
biological distinctiveness; small size
(of countries, ecosystems, domestic
markets and economies); scarcity
of resources, especially land, but
also water in the drier islands; and
vulnerability to natural hazards, social
and cultural change, and economic
shocks. These characteristics are
in turn responsible for three critical
features common to the region:
• The high dependence of economies
and livelihoods on natural resourcedependent activities such as
agriculture, mining, tourism and
fisheries.
• The openness of human and
biological systems—to invasive
species, external cultural and
political influences, trade—and a
resulting vulnerability to external
forces and factors.
• The frequency of conflicts over
natural resource use, because
multiple uses must co-exist on very
limited space.
Both despite and because of this
dependence on natural resources for
development, environmental change
has been a major feature of Caribbean
history. The widespread establishment
in the 18th and 19th centuries of the
plantation system, based on slave
labour and geared exclusively towards
export markets, resulted in the
radical transformation of the natural
environment and destruction of natural
ecosystems. A related factor in the
region’s environmental history is the
“creolization” of its flora and fauna
through importations from South and
Central America, Africa, Asia, Europe
and the Pacific.
Paul Starkey
Although with the exception of
Haiti, Caribbean countries fall in the
middle to high range on international
development indices, high levels of
economic inequity mask persistent
and in some cases increasing poverty.
The economies of most countries are
driven by tourism, construction (much
of which is tourism-related), mining and
agriculture that are highly vulnerable
to external changes and shocks,
and that have a substantial impact
on the environment. Energy use is
generally high and largely derived from
petroleum, although some countries
are beginning to exploit alternative
sources including hydro, wind power,
geothermal energy and ethanol
co-generation. The region engages
heavily in external trade, and the recent
loss of preferential agreements with
traditional trade partners has increased
competition in international markets,
with adverse social and economic
impacts. The agricultural sector has
been particularly affected by the
loss of preferential markets with the
European Union through the Cotonou
agreement (especially for bananas, rum
and sugar), but remains important and
socially significant, particularly for the
region’s large rural population.
Environmental issues and trends
Danièle Perrot-Maître
Danièle Perrot-Maître
Some of the main drivers of
environmental change today include:
• global markets and trade relations,
which determine patterns of
resource use, disrupt local livelihood
strategies, and concentrate pressure
on particular areas and resources;
• changing consumption patterns
and increasing demand for
environmental goods and services,
particularly energy, land and water;
• demographic change, towards
greater concentration of population
in environmentally-sensitive areas
such as coastal zones.
Climate is expected to be another
important driver of environmental
change, especially through projected
warming sea temperatures, sea level
rise, increased frequency and intensity
of storms, and shifts in precipitation
patterns.
Caribbean ecozones of most
importance to human well-being
include watersheds, forests, coastal
zones and coral reefs. All have been
subject to severe and in some cases
increasing pressure. Given the high
dependency of poor people on natural
resources, the degradation of these
critical ecosystems has impacted
particularly on the poor, as well as on
the region’s biodiversity (see Table 1).
Policy and management responses
Environmental policy in the Caribbean
is a mosaic of national, regional
and international agreements and
initiatives.
At national level, many countries have
made progress in establishing policy,
institutional and legal frameworks
for environmental management and
sustainable development, although
resources, capacity and political
support for implementation are
often weak. Civil society and private
sector participation is provided for
in many national and international
policies, and NGOs and community
organizations are important actors in
environmental management in most
countries. Nonetheless, the public
policy framework remains oriented
towards control and regulation, and
focuses on symptoms and impacts of
environmental degradation rather than
the underlying drivers.
Critical ecosystems
and resources
Source: http://www.elemental-logic.com/stats/Today/report27.html
Pedro Rosabal
Another important mechanism
for regional cooperation is
UNEP’s Caribbean Environment
Programme, which implements
At the international level, the
countries are active participants in
the main environmental treaties and
conventions, but these can put a
burden on small states with limited
staff and technical resources.
A number of bilateral and multilateral
donors and major international NGOs
have programmes in the region, and
external support is an important
component of national and regional
environmental management strategies.
Status and trends
Some key drivers
Social and economic impacts
Watersheds
Some upper watersheds protected as forest reserves, but
management often weak and little link with coastal areas.
Expansion of agriculture (especially for export crops), housing
and infrastructure into watersheds. Agrichemicals, poor
sanitation and waste management affect water quality.
Global agricultural market trends;
rising middle-class incomes;
urbanization and increased
demands for water supply.
Effects on availability, quality and
cost of water. Soil degradation
and loss hurting hillside farmers.
Downstream flooding, pollution and
sedimentation, with impacts on
residents, fishing and tourism.
Forests
On smaller islands most forests wiped out during plantation
era; remnant native forest now mostly protected. National parks
and reserves protect central forests in larger countries, but
exploitation for fuel wood continues in Haiti and the Dominican
Republic and for commercial timber in Guyana. Secondary
forest important for biodiversity and provision of forest goods
and services but generally not protected and often targeted
for development. Evidence of re-establishment of forest in
abandoned agricultural lands in some countries.
Agricultural expansion and
decline in response to global
markets; residential expansion into
forested areas due to limited land
availability.
Loss of forest livelihood options
for rural people and recreational
and tourism opportunities. Loss
of economically and ecologically
important wildlife and plant
species.
Coastal zones
Concentration of development, particularly tourism, in coastal
Tourism and other coastal-based
areas. Widespread destruction of mangroves through 1980s, but sectors, e.g. ports, oil refineries,
recent improved awareness has led to protection or managed
sand mining for construction.
use in some areas. Destruction of seagrass and inshore reefs
for tourism infrastructure and amenities (e.g. swimming
beaches). Coastal protected areas and other management
measures established in many countries in response.
Loss of beach-related activities,
including tourism and fishing,
and of coastal infrastructure
through erosion, affecting coastal
residents and businesses, and
likely to increase with projected
sea level rise and increased storm
frequency. Reduced shoreline
protection.
Coral reefs
Recent rapid reduction in hard coral abundance, increase in
macroalgae, epidemics and disease affecting corals regionwide, likely to worsen with climate change-induced sea
temperature rise and more frequent hurricanes. Associated
changes in reef fish communities, particularly a decline in
large carnivores. Marine Protected Areas established to protect
critical reefs in many countries.
Unregulated coastal development
and watershed degradation,
impacting reefs through sewage,
sedimentation and chemical
pollution; marine pollution,
especially from cruise industry;
overfishing, driven by increasing
demand.
Reduced revenue from nearshore
fishing and reef-related tourism
and recreation. Reduced shoreline
protection; accelerated erosion,
affecting coastal property-owners
and residents.
Biodiversity
Exploited marine species declining (especially near shore and
desirable species such as lobster, grouper and snapper). Many
terrestrial species declining from habitat loss, alien species
competition and predation, and uncontrolled exploitation. Some
species targeted for conservation are slowly recovering but
populations remain small and vulnerable to shocks such as
natural disasters.
Increased demand for food species
stemming from tourism, population
growth and changes in household
income (both up and down);
reduction of other economic
options driving increased pressure
in some countries.
Loss of access to species of
economic, livelihood, cultural and
medicinal value; of economic
opportunities from ecotourism
and other biodiversity-dependent
sectors; and of traditional
knowledge.
A biological diversity hotspot
To protect this remarkable patrimony, the countries of the region have established
more than 1,000 protected areas covering 2.8 million terrestrial hectares and
10.9 million marine hectares. However, only a few countries have comprehensive
and effective national protected area systems.
Regional mechanisms are important
in promoting harmonization and
cooperation among countries. The
main regional political grouping,
CARICOM, includes institutions and
programmes addressing aspects
of environmental management
from climate change to fisheries
management.
the Cartagena Convention on the
Protection and Development of the
Marine Environment in the Wider
Caribbean and its three Protocols
(Protocol Concerning Co-operation
in Combating Oil Spills in the
Wider Caribbean Region; Protocol
Concerning Specially Protected Areas
and Wildlife in the Wider Caribbean
Region (SPAW Protocol); and Protocol
on Marine Pollution from Land-based
Sources and Activities (LBS Protocol).
Table 1: Overview of Caribbean environmental Issues and trends
Patricia Lamelas
The Wider Caribbean has been identified as one of the world’s biodiversity
“hotspots”, with an unusually high proportion of endemic species. A 2003 review
for IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas estimated that 54% of vertebrates
and 59% of plants are endemic to the region. In Jamaica alone, there are 3,003
species of flowering plants, 28% of which are endemic and 61 species of reptiles
and amphibians, more than two-thirds of which are endemic. Yet centuries of intense
natural resource exploitation and environmental degradation have taken a toll: the
IUCN Red List evaluated 2,074 insular Caribbean species and found that 2.2% were
extinct and 38% threatened. Of the 1,920 terrestrial species, 206 marine species and
347 freshwater species evaluated, respectively 38%, 22% and 22% are threatened.
Private sector support for
environmental management and
conservation has largely come
from smaller, locally-owned tourism
businesses and a few major Caribbean
companies. Transnational business
interests, such as the cruise ship
and airline industries, although major
users of the region’s natural assets,
have to date contributed little to their
protection.