15 November 2012: The World Ocean Assessment (WOA) Workshop for the Wider Caribbean met to discuss the state of assessments of the marine environment in the Wider Caribbean, and provide regional input to the First Global Integrated Marine Assessment. The Assessment is slated for publication in December 2014.

The workshop took place from 13-15 November 2012, in Miami, Florida, US. Hosted by the US State Department in cooperation with US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Oceanic Commission (IOC), the WOA Workshop for the Wider Caribbean brought together 80 experts from over 30 countries across the Wider Caribbean Region.

The workshop featured four overarching themes: biophysical aspects of the marine environment; food security and safety; socioeconomic aspects; and marine biodiversity and habitats. The experts took stock of existing environmental and socioeconomic marine assessments for the Wider Caribbean and discussed linkages between assessments.

The Workshop also identified information gaps and marine assessment capacity building needs of the Wider Caribbean countries. For example, the biodiversity work group noted territorial gaps (such as Nicaragua), the challenge of identifying and tapping “grey” and undisclosed databases, and the need for tools to integrate and synthesize information. The group called for establishing a network of practitioners, experts, institutions and countries to improve assessments of regional marine biodiversity.

For its part, the socioeconomic aspects work group noted that too many socioeconomic assessments in the Caribbean are site-specific and do not help build a regional picture, and called for the WOA to provide a sense of total economic value, incorporating both use and non-use values of the ocean. It urged the WOA to capture cross-cutting issues such as climate change, governance, gender and poor and vulnerable communities. [UNEP CEP Press Release] [US State Department Press Release] [Workshop Agenda, Presentations and Draft Conclusions]