17 April 2012: The Caribbean Marine Protected Areas Management Network and Forum (CaMPAM) has announced the launch of a project aimed at supporting learning exchanges among marine protected areas (MPA) staff and fishers from the Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba, and Antigua and Barbuda, as well as other Caribbean countries.

According to CaMPAM, the learning exchanges, set to take place throughout April and May, aim to use manager exchanges as a tool for disseminating best marine management practices. The learning exchanges are supported by the Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) project “Regional support for the Caribbean Challenge initiative: Networking, consolidation and regional coordination of MPA management,” and funded by the Italian Government.

Under the learning exchanges: the Dominican managers will exchange with Cuban colleagues at several MPA sites, and learning about the development of the MPA National System; Grenadian MPA managers and rangers will participate in a regional workshop in San Andres, Colombia, and exchange with the local managers on the participatory planning and management tools used at the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve; four park rangers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines will visit the Biscayne and Everglades National Parks in Florida, US, to discuss MPA enforcement; and four MPA and fisheries managers of Antigua and Barbuda will attend a workshop of the Dutch Caribbean MPA managers, and visit the Saba Marine Park and the Saba Bank to learn about management tools and exchange ideas on managing marine resources.

CaMPAM was created in 1997 under the framework of the UNEP-CEP and the Specially Protected Area and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol of the Cartagena Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region. [IISD RS Sources] [CaMPAM Website]