Coral reefs, mangroves and sea-grass beds offer several valuable services – food security, coastal protection and resources for tourism and nautical activities. Thus, marine and coastal zones are among the most productive ecosystems in the world and are determinant for the future well-being of Caribbean populations.
The SPAW-RAC is aligned with the principle of Ecosystem-Based Management, and contributes to the protection of marine and coastal ecosystems in the Caribbean through its participation in regional cooperation projects dedicated to climate change adaptation, coastal protection in the face of extreme climatic events such as hurricanes and tsunamis and the fight against coastal erosion.
The SPAW-RAC also animates diverse networks of Caribbean actors engaged in common management efforts to address the threats to marine and coastal ecosystems. Under request by the Contracting Parties, the SPAW-RAC contributes to the Caribbean cooperation efforts to prevent, contain and manage Alien Invasive Species. Likewise, the RAC is an active interlocutor in the current sargassum discussions in the Caribbean. This commitment has resulted in the creation during STAC 8 (Panama, 2018) of a new Working Group entirely dedicated to sargassum.
Furthermore, the SPAW-RAC acts in favor of ecosystems by facilitating the exchanges between Caribbean environmental stakeholders. The RAC is an active member of steering comitees of major regional and international organisms such as the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) International, the GCRMN Caraïbes and the Coral Restoration Consortium (CRC).
