The Protected Area of Managed Natural Resources of the Three Bays (PA3B) : Management Plan 2017-2027

Abstract

In Haiti, the priority seascape is known as the “Protected Area of Managed Natural Resources of the Three Bays” (PA3B) on Haiti’s north-east coast. The Government of Haiti created the PA3B, the largest protected area in its history, by Presidential Decree on March 21, 2014 (see Appendix 1). The PA3B is 75,406 ha in size, and contains some of the most extensive and healthiest fringing and barrier coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove forests and other marine coastal habitats in the country. Many of the fish and other marine life in this area serve as critically important sources of protein for local communities. The marine habitats also provide local communities with critical coastal protection. The management of PA3B as a protected area will represent dramatic change for Haiti’s north-east coast and for its communities and ecosystems. The purpose of this management plan is to facilitate that change over the next decade and beyond by guiding the transition from a coastal and marine ecosystem that has been settled for centuries and that is in continuing ecological decline with communities facing a fragile and uncertain future, to a protected area characterized by sound environmental management, economic viability and social balance.