The Wider Caribbean Region

With less than 1 % of emerged lands’ total global surface, the Wider Caribbean Region has a unique geography, composed of very diverse territories and of remarkable marine ecosystems. The great diversity of this region is mirrored on political and juridical levels, given that it is composed by territories with different statuses. Thirty independent nations, sixteen French, British, American and Dutch overseas territories with extremely diverse living standards. Nonetheless, these territories all share a tight dependence to their marine and coastal environments. Thereby, Caribbean biodiversity is the ground for the human communities from this region’s territories, because it provides subsistence, fishing, water, materials, employment, coastal protection and well-being to these populations. All the large coastal ecosystems are present : coastline forests, coral reefs and associated species, sea-grass, high beaches, mangroves...

Because of human activities, these ecosystems and species populations that compose them are degrading and are henceforth so threatened that the Wider Caribbean Region has two of the thirty six global biodiversity hots spots. Still, 70 % of the population lives off the coast and depends directly, in terms of protection and resources, from these ecosystems. A quarter of global fish resources comes from coral reefs and mangroves.

This remarkable biodiversity directly generates six million jobs in the Caribbean and contributes annually with twenty five billion dollars to its economy. Coral reefs alone contribute with around two billion euros per year and are essential to key sectors like fishing, tourism and coastal protection.