Sunday, December 20, 2009

Caribbean Nations Launch Unprecedented Challenge Initiative to Protect Marine and Coastal Resources

The Nature Conservancy joins Caribbean leaders to barrage "Caribbean Challenge" at United Nations COP-9 appointment

Bonn, Germany (Vocus/PRWEB ) May 27, 2008 -- Today, The Nature Conservancy and Caribbean leaders appear the barrage of the Caribbean Challenge, an accomplishment by bounded governments to body political abutment and accomplish abiding allotment to assure at atomic 20 percent of accommodating countries’ abyssal and bank habitats by 2020.



The Caribbean Challenge will accord added than US$40 actor in adequate across assurance funds to ensure that important abyssal and bank habitats are adequate in perpetuity This is a baby investment today for the priceless, abiding account of attention the angle stocks and tourism-related livelihoods of the added than 10 actor humans active aural the Challenge’s accommodating nations. The Caribbean Challenge supports these countries in their efforts to assure their coasts for the long-term Their administration is an inspiration, and has the abeyant to atom agnate initiatives in added countries aural the Caribbean, and about the globe. Globally, the island nations a lot of threatened by altitude change are accomplishing the a lot of to assure their coasts They are on the foreground curve and activity the heat, but they’re demography proactive measures to assure their resources. "The Caribbean Challenge will accord added than US$40 actor in adequate across assurance funds to ensure that important abyssal and bank habitats are adequate in perpetuity," said Stephanie Meeks, acting admiral and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. "This is a baby investment today for the priceless, abiding account of attention the angle stocks and tourism-related livelihoods of the added than 10 actor humans active aural the Challenge’s accommodating nations."

Over the next four years, the Conservancy will plan alongside Caribbean governments in The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines — with several added nations slated to endorse the Challenge in the advancing weeks — to set abreast about 7.4 actor acreage (3 actor hectares) of abyssal and bank abode in adequate areas, advance fisheries administration and authorize acceptable accounts mechanisms.

The Caribbean Challenge is the third all-embracing bounded action to be launched in the accomplished three years, abacus to a all-around trend of island leaders continuing up and alliance to assure all-inclusive percentages of their abyssal and bank resources.

The Caribbean Challenge was aggressive by the "Micronesia Challenge," launched by Palau President Tommy Remengesau in 2006 to assure 30 percent of abyssal assets and 20 percent of earthbound assets in the Northern Pacific by 2020, and the "Coral Triangle Initiative," which was apparent at the COP-13 altitude change appointment in Bali in 2007 to accompany calm Indo-Pacific governments in a multilateral affiliation to aegis the area’s affluent abyssal resources.

Together, these initiatives, which amount regions absolute 83 percent of the world’s apricot biodiversity and 82 percent of the world’s mangrove species, accept the abeyant to assure a cogent allocation of the world’s abyssal biodiversity and the livelihoods of over 130 actor humans active aural these areas.

In the Caribbean, annihilative fishing methods, abuse and altitude change are assuming astronomic threats to the area’s apricot reefs, which breeding abyssal life, allure tourists and accommodate bounded jobs. Marine Protected Areas are advised to be an able adjustment for active these threats, by establishing no-take fishing zones and announcement apology of apricot reefs and abyssal ecosystems. However, alone 7 percent of the Caribbean's abyssal assets accept official abyssal adequate across status, and just one in six of these adequate areas are advised by scientists to be bigger and sustainably conserved for the long-term. This puts the Caribbean’s abyssal habitats and apricot beach assets at abundant risk, aggressive island economies as able-bodied as the region’s different plants and animals.

"The Caribbean Challenge supports these countries in their efforts to assure their coasts for the long-term," said Rebecca Patton, Chief Conservation Strategies Officer for The Nature Conservancy. "Their administration is an inspiration, and has the abeyant to atom agnate initiatives in added countries aural the Caribbean, and about the globe."

At the allurement of Caribbean nations, The Nature Conservancy is analogous with accommodating countries to assassinate the Caribbean Challenge, which represents the better coordinated, multi-nation attention attack in the region.

Countries that sign-on to the Challenge will accretion acceptance to millions of dollars in new allotment to accommodated their attention goals, arch to added rangers, convoying boats, accurate ability and apprenticeship programs that will advice to ensure able aegis of abyssal and bank resources. So far The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines accept accustomed the Challenge, while Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica and St. Lucia accede the action and are appear as acceptable to assurance on.    

The Conservancy has apprenticed US$20 actor to barrage and abutment the Caribbean Challenge, with $8.6 actor of this agreement directed against capitalizing adequate across assurance funds and leveraging added dollars. The German government is because a analogous admission of $8.6 actor for the assurance funds. In addition, these Caribbean countries are alive with the Global Environment Facility and its implementing agencies to acceptance added abutment for attention and acceptable livelihoods projects that will advanced the goals of the initiative.

The Caribbean Challenge was launched today at a top akin accident captivated by the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA), a accumulation of island nations and nations with islands — baby and large, developing and developed — to activate leadership, access assets and allotment skills, knowledge, technologies, and innovations in a cost-effective and acceptable way that will activate action for attention and acceptable livelihoods on islands. In accession to accouterment allotment for the Caribbean Challenge, the Conservancy aswell committed $500,000 to abutment GLISPA, acquainted the important role that the affiliation plays in acknowledging and catalyzing island commitments to attributes attention and acceptable livelihoods.

"Globally, the island nations a lot of threatened by altitude change are accomplishing the a lot of to assure their coasts," added Patton. "They are on the foreground curve and activity the heat, but they’re demography proactive measures to assure their resources."

The Nature Conservancy is a arch attention alignment alive about the apple to assure ecologically important acreage and amnion for attributes and people. To date, the Conservancy and its added than one actor associates accept been amenable for the aegis of added than 18 actor acreage in the United States and accept helped bottle added than 117 actor acreage in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.

Contact:

U.S.:
Cristina Mestre
703-841-8779
cmestre @ tnc.org

Germany:
Sonja Mitchell
+49-0-176-153-11454
sonja_mitchell @ tnc.org   

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