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Among the three protocols that divide the Cartagena Convention, the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol is dedicated to biodiversity protection. It provides a unique legal framework for the conservation of regional biodiversity. The SPAW Protocol is also recognized as a significant tool to attain global agreement’s objectives, such as the Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CBD) or the Ramsar Convention. Other important regional initiatives have been launched under SPAW’s auspices, namely for the reinforcement of protected areas and the conservation of key species, with the participation and implication of all stakeholders (governments, NGOs, local communities, etc).
Signed in January 1990, the SPAW Protocol came into effect on June 2000 and is currently endorsed by 18 countries : Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France (Guadeloupe, Guyane, Martinique, Saint-Barthélémy, Saint-Martin), Granada, Guyana, Honduras, the Netherlands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Saint-Eustache, Sint Maarten), Nicaragua, Panama, Saint-Lucie, Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, USA (the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, the American Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico) and Venezuela.
The SPAW RAC and the Cartagena Convention Secretariat looks forward to the ratification of the SPAW Protocol by all 28 countries in the Wider Caribbean Region. You will be able to find some information about it on this document
For any questions on this matter, please, contact the Cartagena Convention Secretariat: unep-cartagenaconvention@un.org
Under the terms of the Protocol, the Contracting Parties must, in accordance with their own legislation, take all measures to protect, conserve and sustainably manage the zones and the animal or plant threatened species. The Protocol has two main goals :
• The protection, preservation and sustainable management of the zones that present particular ecological value ;
• The protection, preservation and sustainable management of threatened or endangered wild species as well as their habitats.
Besides these two targets regarding species and spaces, the SPAW Protocol also includes various diagonal objectives :
• Establishing impact studies in the case of projects and/or activities that can have a strong effect on the environment ;
• The possibility of exempting Parties to the obligations of the Protocol in the case of traditional or development-related activities ;
• Developing scientific and technical research on the protected zones and species that are listed under the SPAW Protocol, promoting the exchange of information between Parties’ monitoring / research programs, and strenghtening the coordination of these programs ;
• Finally, the Protocol establishes the principles for the elaboration of measures, criteria and guidelines answering to these different goals.
The SPAW Conference of the Parties (COP) is held every two years. The gathering signatory countries adopt a biannual work program that covers all the subjects addressed by the Protocol. Furthermore, the SPAW-RAC and the UNEP-RAC/RCU elaborate an annual activities program on the basis of the orientations and priorities fixed during the COP.
Some topics require special attention given their complexity or their level of specialization. The Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), gathered every two years, supports the Parties in these cases in order to simplify the conversations during the COP.