REDUCING PESTICIDE RUNOFF TO THE CARIBBEAN SEA
REPORT OVERVIEW
With financing provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for the project, Reducing Pesticide Runoff to the
Caribbean Sea, the countries of Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Colombia have the opportunity to develop and
implement comprehensive management practices and specific measures to control the use and application of
pesticides in the agricultural sector thereby, reducing runoff to the marine environment. Through the project’s
realization, the degradation of the marine environment caused by agricultural pesticides can be mitigated and
sustainable practices and precedents as lessons learnt for other countries produced.
BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
Agriculture is critical to the economies of countries within the Mesoamerican Caribbean Basin (MCB) sub-region,
in which export-oriented agricultural production is a significant source of foreign exchange earnings. The
agricultural sector provides approximately 32% of the gross national product (GNP) in Nicaragua, 19% in Colombia
and 18% in Costa Rica. National Reports completed by the participating countries using a Block B grant under the
GEF Project Development Facility (PDF) indicated that agricultural pesticides are not always reaching target
organisms and are consequently posing an environmental threat. In fact, a number of studies conducted in
Nicaragua and Colombia presented evidence that pesticides were contaminating groundwater and the Caribbean Sea.
This contamination is associated
with environmental risks and
health hazards, both to humans
and the coastal environment and
its associated coastal economies.
Furthermore,
with
the
deterioration of the marine and
freshwater environments in these
countries, incidences of human
poisoning and wildlife kills are
commonplace.
Excessive
pesticide use can also lead to soil
contamination and degradation,
which induces phytotoxicity and
pest resistance and consequent
low productivity and higher costs
of production.
Regionally, 96% of the land area
of Nicaragua, >70% of Colombia
and 46% of Costa Rica drain into
the MCB.
The potential
Figure 1. Ocean surface circulation patterns in the Mesoamerican
degradation to coastal and
Caribbean Basin, adapted from Ogden and satellite imagery
marine resources due to pesticide
runoff is of concern. As
illustrated in Figure 1, the MCB
sub-region creates a circulation cell of surface currents such that a relatively large portion of the water mass and its
associated contaminant load is recycled among the three countries. Reducing pesticide runoff in the MCB could
1
therefore be expected to have regional/national impact and also make a significant contribution to the standing stock
of the more persistent pesticides in the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, economically important species and threatened
and endangered species are at risk by acute or chronic toxicity of pesticide run-off. These species, though perhaps
carrying out one or more stages of their life cycle in the MCB are also important to the economies of other countries
and the environmental health of extra-regional marine waters.
STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT
The project is a co-operative effort of national, regional and local stakeholders. The project was developed by the
Regional Co-ordinating Unit of the Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP-CAR/RCU), as Secretariat to the CEP and the Convention for the Protection and Development
of the Marine Environment for the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention). As Secretariat to the
Cartagena Convention, UNEP-CAR/RCU will be responsible for overall execution of the project and co-ordination
at the regional level. At the national level, the executing agencies will be:
(a) Ministerio del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (MARENA), Nicaragua;
(b) Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAE), Costa Rica; and
(c) Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Colombia.
The main stakeholders for this project are the farmers, agrochemical distributors, health, agricultural and
environmental ministries and agencies, environmental NGOs and other community-based organizations, relevant
international organizations and academic institutions.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES AND PROJECT ACTIVITIES
The main objective of this report is to protect the marine environment in the Caribbean Sea by reducing the use of,
and reliance on, pesticides in agricultural activities. This is accomplished through meeting GEF global
environmental objectives and specifically meeting criteria required for the focal area, International Waters, via the
following methods.
National Action Programmes
National Action Programmes will incorporate comprehensive management practices and specific measures to
control the use of pesticides in the agricultural sector, thereby strengthening the national regulatory systems for
management of chemical substances. This system will address issues such as permitting, compliance control,
enforcement, trade, handling and use of pesticides as well as the disposal of pesticide waste. It will also contribute to
the effective implementation of GEF operations and include actions to promote the use of economic instruments as
well as the establishment of a national pesticide registry.
Institutional Arrangements
Institutional arrangements that are supportive of global environmental protection will also be incorporated through
sub-regional co-operation and co-ordination among the three countries. Common regulations and economic
instruments will be elaborated through collaboration between Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Colombia. This
demonstration of regional co-operation can be replicated in other regions of the world.
Communications and Outreach
The project includes the implementation of activities to increase awareness and education regarding rational
pesticide use to minimize runoff as well as to share lessons learnt with other countries and regions. For instance,
demonstration projects will provide educational activities for identified stakeholders and regional workshops will
provide a platform for regional discussion and information exchange. As well, within year one of the project, a
project website will be established within the CEPNET sub-programme of CEP1 to provide a forum and information
1
Nicaragua has benefited from previous CEP/CEPNET projects to assist in the development of an environmental
website and database. They have already sustained this database and website on their own (utilizing it for the PDFB of this project). Therefore, such a linkage will build on existing UNEP/CEP sponsored projects.
2
source for project participants and a means of information dissemination for replicability from project
commencement.
Public Participation and Consultation
Project Co-ordination and Stakeholder Participation mechanisms as well as mechanisms to strengthen and maintain
the successful networking and co-ordination that took place within and among project countries during the PDF will
continue to be implemented. Following agreements to be established with the National Executing Agencies, a
Project Steering Committee (PSC) will be established to guide the project and set the basis for a regional entity for
future co-ordination and collaboration on reducing pesticide runoff. The PSC will be assisted by advisory panels,
which will, inter alia, establish monitoring protocols and design an appropriate education and training programme.
PROJECT BENEFITS
The resulting benefits will have a comprehensive impact, which will be felt at the global, regional and local
institutional divisions. At the global level, benefits from the GEF project involve recognition of the worldwide
importance of the MCB region as well as the potential for transboundary (both global and regional) impacts of
pesticide runoff (on water quality and important living marine resources) from the MCB into the Caribbean Sea.
Regional benefits include those relating to the mitigation of transboundary environmental impacts. Transboundary
impacts include the contamination of strategic ecosystems and loss of biological diversity. Benefits will result from
the adoption of a harmonised regional approach to action, including in terms of economies of scale for training,
monitoring and assessment.
The major national benefits to the project include those that relate to the improvement in the condition of the marine,
coastal, and freshwater ecosystems under national jurisdiction. Additionally, improvements in farmers’ abilities to
handle and properly manage the use of pesticides and reduce the adverse environmental impacts relating to the
indiscriminate use of pesticides will be achieved.
PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY
Once funding from the GEF has ceased, the project will prove sustainable due to a number of contributing factors in
the project’s design. First, many of the initiatives under this project will assist countries to comply with the Protocol
to the Cartagena Convention Concerning Pollution from Land Based Sources. In as far as the countries are
committed to and comply with this regional legal instrument, it will ensure some sustainability. Additionally,
UNEP-CAR/RCU, as Secretariat to the Cartagena Convention and its protocols, will continue to provide a regional
forum and organizational structure for continued co-operation over the long-term among participating countries and
provide wider dissemination of the project results to the other 25 member countries of CEP.
Second, the PSC will form the nucleus of a regional pesticide management committee to assist in the co-ordination
of, or liaison with, future efforts in this area thus providing further sustainability to project initiatives. The National
Co-ordinating Committees (NCCs) to be established under the project are also committed to permanence as national
councils. Experience during the PDF indicates that the various stakeholders are dedicated to the success of these
regional and national forums.
Third, improved management, actively applied throughout the “life-cycle” of pesticides (i.e.:
manufacturedistribution and saleapplicationultimate fate) will reduce the runoff of pesticides to the
Caribbean Sea. Furthermore, through improving worker safety and public health, it will also present the opportunity
for economic savings among farmers and in doing so increase sustainability to the project’s objectives.
Fourth, the project proposes to address the lack of resources and enforcement of environmental safety in conjunction
with participant’s local and national governments via two means: 1) availability of information and; 2) development
of a qualified cadre of individuals to train agricultural operators and inculcate a culture of integrated pest
management at the level of the individual farm.
3