achieving development. The aim of this particular project is to improve the management of 15 no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) in Jamaica, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Dominica in order to promote sustainable livelihoods and increase the resilience of coastal resources to climate change. An essential part of this project is empowering fisherfolk communities in the management of these MPAs. Specific activities of the project look to promote and support effective MPA management as a strategy for ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change; to provide financial and technical support for the management of community-based MPAs; to promote alternative livelihoods in fishing communities; to build mutually beneficial linkages between tourism and fisheries sectors; to facilitate stakeholder participation; and to monitor the effectiveness of the MPA management and promote public awareness of the environmental, social and economic benefits that MPAs can generate in Caribbean countries. Such projects look not only at ensuring that fisherfolk communities’ traditional source of livelihoods are kept intact, but also at providing alternative livelihoods for such communities through linkages with major private sector operators in the tourism industry. For example, training has been carried out to help communities produce a higher standard of handicrafts that some major hotel chains in the Caribbean have agreed to have in their shops, providing access to new markets. This reflects the donors’ concern that there’s no point in having community-based management if the tools for management – such as the boats needed to carry out patrols – are not also provided. The community must also have some sense of authority in order to control and execute surveillance R i s k a n d r e s i l i e n c e against those within the MPAs not acting in the interests of MPA maintenance, which means that the government must cede some of its authority to the community. It is important to note that often, when we talk about empowerment of communities, we ignore their potential to be part of the scientific work that is being carried out. But there is no point in having an MPA if the community does not accept that maintaining that area in as pristine a state as possible results in an improvement of fish stocks. We’re very excited about the potential of this particular project to inform the wider Caribbean of the global context of an approach that we can take to deal with what we in the climate change community feel is a critical activity for ensuring that the marine environment is resilient to the impact of climate change. The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism Milton Haughton The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) was established in 2002 by a treaty. We are a CARICOM agency with a mandate to co-ordinate the sustainable use, management and conservation of fisheries and aquatic resources within the jurisdiction of member states. We are located in Belize, and have a sub office in St Vincent and the Grenadines. There are 17 member states of the CRFM, plus a number of other partner countries and organisations that we work closely with, and they are all SIDS.2 The organisation is funded by member states’ contributions as well as donor funding. Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2014/15 125 Research in the Caribbean indicates that some fish are migrating out of the reach of artisanal fisherfolk. Pictured: Fishing in Maracas Bay, Trinidad John de la Bastide / Shutterstock.com
CEP template 2012
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