Focal Point for Only Regional Legally Binding Environmental Treaty in the Caribbean Region
PHILIPSBURG:--- Local Conservation Organization the St. Maarten Nature Foundation has beenappointed as the Specially Protected Area of Wildlife (SPAW) Focal Point for St. Maarten. The SPAW Protocol is the executionary protocol for theConvention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR), which is the only legally bindingregional environmental treaty for the Region. The Convention, referred to
as the Cartagena Convention, presently has 25 (out of 28 possible) States that are Contracting Parties, including the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Convention and its Protocols constitute a legal commitment by these countries to protect, and manage their common coastal and marine resources individually, jointly, and in a sustainable manner. The Cartagena Convention and its Protocols enhance not only protection but also development, as specifically noted in its provisions.
Adopted in Kingston, Jamaica by the member governments of the Caribbean Environment Program (CEP) on 18 January 1990, the SPAW Protocol preceded other international environmental agreements in utilizing an ecosystem approach to conservation. The Protocol acts as a vehicle to assist with regional implementation of the broader and more demanding global Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The SPAW Protocol seeks to "Take the necessary measures to protect, preserve and manage in sustainable way areas that require protection to safeguard their special value, and threatened or endangered species of flora and fauna.
With the Appointment the Nature Foundation acts as the Focal Point for assistance to Government and NGO's in increasing the number, and improve the management of, protected and/or managed areas locally and in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR), including support to national and regional conservation management strategies and plans. Support the conservation of threatened and endangered species and sustainable use of natural resources to prevent them from becoming threatened or endangered; Develop strong regional capability for information exchange, training and assistance, in support of national biodiversity conservation efforts; Coordinate activities, and develop synergies, with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well as other biodiversity-related treaties and initiatives, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES), the Convention on Wetlands/Ramsar Convention, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory species of Wild Animals (CMS)/Bonn Convention, the Western Hemisphere Conventions, the Interamerican Convention for the Conservation of Sea Turtles (IAC), the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) and the Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Initiative (WHMSI).
The St. Maarten Nature Foundation is a locally mandated Conservation Organization tasks with the Management of the Terrestrial and Marine Ecosystems of St. Maarten. The Foundation manages the Man of War Shoal Marine Protected Area; the only National Park for Country St. Maarten.