Port of Spain, December 17, 2018 – The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) has released a new publication entitled ‘People Managing Oceans’ developed by and for civil society, fisherfolk and community enterprises. It is a framework to guide their practical actions for a healthy marine environment in the Caribbean Sea and North Brazil Shelf to provide benefits and livelihoods for the well-being of the people of the region.

Coastal and marine ecosystems and biodiversity are the basis for much of the region’s economic development and are also important for food security and resilience against climate change and natural hazards. Recent global meetings on the blue economy and climate change have been filled with political rhetoric, and this is a refreshing focus on what people can do to achieve real change. According to Orisha Joseph, Executive Director of Sustainable Grenadines and one of the civil society leaders who helped to develop the programme, “It is good when civil society has a say in what needs to be implemented, because we are the ones working on the ground.”

See Map of the Caribbean Sea and North Brazil Shelf region (Source: www.clmeproject.org)

This will support implementation of the ‘Strategic Action Programme for the Sustainable Management of the Shared Living Marine Resources of the Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems’, which was endorsed by governments of 25 countries and 6 overseas territories. Civil society, fisherfolk and community enterprises see themselves as important partners in implementing this key regional plan.

‘People Managing Oceans’ was developed through a participatory process led by CANARI, a regional non-profit technical institute dedicated to facilitating and promoting participatory approaches to natural resource management. CANARI conducted an in-depth stakeholder analysis to assess who were the key actors and what roles they were playing and could play. Representatives of civil society, fisherfolk and community enterprises from across the region came together at a workshop in January Civil society leaders who developed the CLME+ C-SAP (Photo credit: CANARI)
Civil society leaders who developed the CLME+ C-SAP (Photo credit: CANARI)

The next step will be endorsement of ‘People Managing Oceans’ by civil society and fisherfolk organisations and community enterprises, as well as mobilising financial and technical support for them to undertake practical actions for conservation and sustainable use of our shared oceans.

The publications are available for download on CANARI’s website:
• Full booklet English: http://www.canari.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/csap-booklet-english.pdf
• Full booklet Spanish: http://www.canari.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/csap-booklet-spanish.pdf
• Factsheet English: http://www.canari.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/csap-factsheet-english.pdf
• Factsheet Spanish: http://www.canari.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/csap-factsheet-spanish.pdf

END

About CANARI
The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute is a regional technical non-profit organisation which has been working in the islands of the Caribbean for 30 years. Our mission is to promote equitable participation and effective collaboration in managing natural resources critical to development. Our programmes focus on research, sharing and dissemination of lessons learned, capacity building and fostering regional partnerships.