The SPAW protocol makes provisions, in article 4, for each Party to create protected areas (and possibly buffer zones) in order to recover, preserve or maintain habitats, ecosystems and natural resources. Representative marine and coastal resources, habitats of endangered and endemic species, productive ecosystems and natural resources supplying socio-economic benefits, and areas of specific interest including those essential to the proper operation of ecosystems in the Caribbean region are particularly targeted by this article. Current database for marine protected areas in the Caribbean: http://www.cep.unep.org/caribbeanmpa
Parties are requested to take, for each protected area, the appropriate measures to ensure proper conservation and management, notably through pollution and waste management, the regulation of activities in or near protected areas, the regulation or banning of trade for species originating from these areas, and proper management of practices linked to tourism. In and around these protective measures, the Parties must also implement a system for planning and managing these protected areas, notably including the adoption of guidelines, the elaboration of management plans, the overseeing of research and monitoring programmes, public education and training, local player participation methods, authorisation procedures, training, etc…
Other than these actions under the national responsibility of every SPAW Party, the protocol makes provisions for the implementation of cooperation programmes helping to select, establish, plan, manage and preserve protected areas and set a regional network of protected areas. A regional list of protected areas corresponding to objectives set by the SPAW protocol must be drawn up on this account.