“On islands the protection of mountains and watersheds is essential for maintaining healthy coral reefs and associated marine ecosystems” was one of the most important key messages from the “People managing oceans” workshop held this May on 8 May in Samaná.

Local civil society organisations and SMEs based on the long and narrow peninsula of Samaná —  bordered by the Atlantic and the Bay of Samaná — took part in the workshop designed to engage civil society and help CSOs and SMEs align their strategies with the those of CLME+ C-SAP.

CEBSE, with support from Para La Naturaleza and funds from CANARI, organised and facilitated the workshop entitled “People managing oceans – CLME+ C-SAP”.

Participants got to know the background to CLME+ C-SAP and its strategies and policies. Subsequently attendees analysed their objectives and programmes to identify where their strategies coincide with those of CLME+ C-SAP. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of overlap. As one of the participants said, “Supporting C-SAP supports our work and vice versa.”

 

 

 

At the end everyone contributed to developing a key message taking into account how marine ecosystems in the insular Caribbean are closely linked to and dependent on the conditions on land, for instance, deforestation causes soil run-off and smothers corals and plastic waste enters the sea in major rain events. Tourism development often dries wetlands and destroys mangroves. So marine ecosystems are being seriously threatened with long-term pollution due to human activities on land. Hence the message: On islands the protection of watersheds is essential for maintaining healthy coral reefs and associated marine ecosystems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nature Caribe wishes to thank the attendees for their contributions.

 

Organizations that took part: Aventura Rincón Ecolodge, CEBSE, Inc., Red Arrecifal Dominicana, Quisqueya Permacultura, Cooperativa de Pescadores Bahía de San Lorenzo, Clave Verde Ecolodge, Asociación Comunitaria de Ecoturismo del Santo del Limón, Parada La Manzana, Fundación Aldeas de Paz, Proyecto Biodiversidad Costera y Turismo,  Foro Ambiental de Samaná