4 August 2011: The World Bank approved a US$8.75 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to establish trust funds for the long-term conservation and management of over 100,000 hectares of marine habitat in the Eastern Caribbean. The Eastern Caribbean is among the top five global biodiversity hot spots in the world, due to its marine and coastal ecosystems.

The Sustainable Financing and Management of Eastern Caribbean Marine Ecosystem Project will benefit Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Project is part of a broader initiative, the Caribbean Challenge, which was launched in 2008 and seeks to legally protect 20 percent of near-shore areas by 2020.

The project will be implemented by The Nature Conservancy and plans to: facilitate the establishment and capitalization of a regional biodiversity fund (the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund) as well as national-level trust fund for protected areas; demarcate over 100,000 hectares of marine habitat; and implement a regional monitoring and information system, to facilitate monitoring of biophysical and social economic indicators in protected areas. [World Bank Press Release] [GEF Press Release]