On June 20, the Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program (CMBP) held a public meeting in Port au Prince to present the first management plan for Three Bays National Park to the Haitian government. The purpose of the plan is to conserve the marine and coastal environment along the Three Bays Protected Area and to support sustainable livelihoods for the surrounding coastal communities. It was developed by The Nature Conservancy, FoProBiM, a local non-government organization, and a contractor through a highly collaborative process that involved the National Protected Areas Agency of the Ministry of Environment (ANAP), local community organizations and businesses.
Participants at the event included senior officials from environmental and fisheries agencies within the Governments of Haiti; a USAID delegation led by Mr. Jene Thomas (Mission Director in Haiti); representatives from UNDP, IDB, UNEP, TNC, and other governments and national institutions, partners, Universities, Civil Society, and the local scientific community.
“USAID is proud of this important achievement and looks forward to continuing our support for biodiversity conservation in Haiti and the greater Caribbean Region. We are particularly pleased with the effective collaboration with the government and local communities,” said (Jene Thomas, USAID Mission Director in Haiti).
Jeantel Joseph (Director of ANAP of the Haiti Ministry of Environment) who attended the meeting, noted that “this MPA management plan -the very first one for Haiti- is a major step and an important tool for effective management at Three Bays National Park and a model for the country. The Government of Haiti stands ready to provide the necessary support to this process- recognizing the need to work in close collaboration with the local communities for the success of this plan. ANAP has learned so much during this process of development of this management plan and we are very thankful to TNC and USAID for their support”.
Jean Robert Badio (Director of the Haiti Fisheries and Aquaculture Directorate) added “Local fishers and other community members at Three Bays National Park depend on a healthy marine and coastal environment in this area for their livelihoods and income. To effectively manage the Park will require collaboration between ANAP, the fisheries department, and local fishing communities. If properly implemented, the proposed zoning and the Fisheries Sector Action Plan will become a model for all the marine protected areas of Haiti -with the potential to regenerate the fish population along the coasts”.
Maxene Atis (Haiti Program coordinator for TNC), who also attended the workshop, said “In our role as lead implementer of the Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program, TNC is pleased to provide scientific, technical and other support needed to develop effective actions to sustain a healthy marine and coastal environment in Haiti’s northeast coast.”
The CMBP is a five-year program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and five local partners in five Caribbean countries. The overall objectives are to reduce threats to marine-coastal resources in priority areas in order to achieve sustained biodiversity conservation, to maintain critical ecosystem services provided by these resources, and to improve human wellbeing for communities that depend on these marine areas.
For further information on the CMBP, please contact:
Maxene Atis, Seascape Supervisor, The Nature Conservancy (matis@tnc.org )
Emily Tyner, Senior Communications Officer, USAID (etyner@usaid.gov)
