Jamaica was the host nation for the announcement of the CoralCarib coral reef conservation project. The United Kingdom’s International Climate Initiative is spearheading the project and will provide funds to restore the Caribbean coral reef ecosystems in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, with additional exchanges with Belize over a six-year period.
CoralCarib is a joint program mplemented by a consortium of four partners: The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Fundación Dominicana de Estudios Marinos (FUNDEMAR), Fundación Grupo Puntacana (FGPC), and Alligator Head Foundation (AHF). The consortium will also work with several implementing partner organizations in the target countries.
The Caribbean has 10% of the world’s coral reefs, and 60% of the region’s reefs are found in the four target countries. Live coral cover has declined 60% in the past 20 years due to climate change and a range of other factors.
CoralCarib project seeks to increase marine biodiversity in 1,871 hectares of priority coral reef ecosystems in Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic and regionally through scaling. This project will pioneer a new strategic approach focused on “Coral Climate Refugia”, with activities designed to protect, restore, and sustainably use coral reefs with high potential to survive future climate impacts.
The project is expected to generate long-term socio-economic benefits to coastal communities across the Caribbean region as a result of improved coral reef health. The benefits will be derived particularly in the form of greater coastal protection from storms and related flooding/shoreline erosion and an economically vibrant coastal tourism sector supported by extensive natural beaches, marine ecotourism, and fresh seafood.
The teams in the four CoralCarib target countries of Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica will have numerous resources at their disposal because of the project. These include access to the methods and results of Coral Climate Refugia mapping, coral restoration methods, protocols, spawning calendars, online monitoring platforms, and a coral monitoring analytic toolbox. Several important coral restoration and monitoring tools will be produced and made freely accessible to be shared with the broader coral restoration community.
Read more:
International Climate Initiative
Coralcarib
Nature Conservancy
International Climate Initiative
Jamaica Information Service
Diario Libre
2 May 2023