Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program : year 3 annual technical report (October 2016 – September 2017)

Abstract

The overall objective of the USAID Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program (CMBP) is to reduce threats to marine-coastal biodiversity in priority areas in the Caribbean—including high biodiversity ecosystems such as coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds—to achieve sustained biodiversity conservation, maintain critical ecosystem services, and realize tangible improvements in human wellbeing for communities adjacent to marine managed areas (MMAs). To achieve this objective, the CMBP addresses direct and indirect threats to marine and coastal biodiversity at multiple geographic scales simultaneously. More specifically, the CMBP includes nested and inter-connected actions across four geographic scales: site, seascape, national and regional. Most of the funding and activities are centered on four targeted seascapes: (i) North Coast of Hispaniola (focus on Haiti); (ii) Samaná Bay (Dominican Republic); (iii) Pedro Bank and Southwest Coast of Jamaica (Jamaica); and (iv) Grenadine Bank (Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines). As required under Cooperative Agreement No. AID-OAA-A14-00064 between TNC and USAID, this is the Annual Technical Report for Year 3 of CMBP, covering activities carried out from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.