SPAW Preserving our Future: Protecting Marine Biodiversity in the Wider Caribbean Region

The people of the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) depend on the area’s coastal and marine resources for their economic, social, and cultural well-being.
Two of the region’s major economic activities, tourism and fisheries, are dependent on these resources, which are disappearing and degrading at an alarming rate. This degradation is due to unsustainable practices such as overfishing, poorly planned or regulated coastal development, and pollution, exacerbated by global pressures like the impacts associated with climate change.

The Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife Protocol (SPAW Protocol) of the Cartagena Convention provides a wide-reaching mechanism to address this socio-economic and ecological dilemma. (English, Spanish, French)