Caribbean
The
Program
2014 Impact Report
From the Caribbean Program Director
I’m proud to present
in this report the many
accomplishments of The
Nature Conservancy’s
Caribbean Program
between July 2013 and June
2014. This has been a year of tremendous
impacts as we seek to protect and restore
our seas and reefs and create a more
sustainable future for the people who live
in this special region.
After eight incredible years at the helm of
the Program, I will be transitioning to the
Conservancy’s Global Marine Team to help
grow our global coral reef conservation
vision. The need to protect and restore reefs
has never been greater than it is today.
I want to thank the many volunteers and
philanthropic leaders who have invested
in us so generously over the years. Our
successes would not be possible without
these visionary partners and their
confidence in our mission.
Thank you again for your help in making our
efforts to protect the Caribbean a reality.
Dr. Philip Kramer
From the Caribbean Board Chair
In 2014, I’ve been inspired
not only by the tremendous
work of The Nature
Conservancy’s Caribbean
Program staff, but also by
all of the people with whom
our program engages. Our work with nearly
900 volunteers this year exemplifies our
deepening collaboration with communities.
Our efforts to build a stronger constituency
for conservation include these local
volunteers as well as fishers, government
officials, business owners and many others
who are making transformational changes to
build a sustainable future for the region.
I am personally inspired by Martin
Barriteau, Executive Director of our partner
Sustainable Grenadines, whom I met this
April and who has been working side by
side with us to assure that the government
and the private sector are engaged with
our mission. Without dedicated islanders,
achieving our goals would become much
more difficult.
Thanks to all of you for your support.
Susan H. Smith
Fishermen off the waters of in Île à Vache, Haiti © Tim Calver; Inset top Dr. Philip Kramer
© Chris Crisman; Inset Bottom Susan Smith © Victor Capellan Cover Stephanie Placide, student
participant in a Conservancy-supported sustainable agriculture project in Île à Vache, Haiti © Tim Calver
This page
2 Caribbean Program 2014 Impact Report
Finally, I’d like to express my sincere
gratitude to Phil Kramer for his years of
dedication leading the Caribbean Program.
He’s grown the program tremendously,
and we look forward to building on the
significant advances made during his tenure.
By the
numbers
893
Protecting the Caribbean
I m pacts by th e Ca r i b b e a n P r o g r a m
ov e r th e pa st ye a r
Caribbean governments
support the Caribbean
Challenge Initiative (CCI)
to protect 20% of nearshore
marine and
coastal
environments
by 2020*
10
402,880
5,000 247,126
20 Million
10%
$8 Million
150,908
16,000
conservation volunteers
trained in Haiti, U.S. Virgin
Islands, Jamaica, Grenada,
Dominican Republic and
The Bahamas
corals out-planted
to-date
trees planted in the
Dominican Republic
and Haiti
added to Caribbean
Biodiversity Fund of $37
million total raised to date
acre shark sanctuary
declared in British Virgin
Islands through
CCI support
mangroves planted
in Haiti, The
Bahamas and Grenada
acres of new marine
parks declared
in Haiti
of nearshore
marine and coastal
environments
protected
to date
corals growing
in nurseries
*CCI Signatories: The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Protecting the Seas
Making History in Haiti
This May along the northern coast of Haiti,
underwater explorers reported the discovery
of what may be the wreckage of Christopher
Columbus’s ship the Santa Maria, which sank
there more than 500 years ago. At the same time
in waters very close by, Conservancy scientists
were carrying out their own exploration—of
the reefs and mangrove stands that make up the
newly declared Three Bays National Park.
Since Columbus’s arrival, Haiti has been a
complicated landscape both politically and
ecologically. And while economic and social
recovery after the 2010 earthquake remains
halting, the past year has seen signs of hope for
the Haitian environment as Haiti has established
six national marine parks, including its first ever.
Three Bays National Park covers approximately
187,000 acres. The Conservancy’s research in
these waters several years ago helped characterize
their diversity, and the Conservancy is playing
a critical role in setting up the park. To fulfill
its promise of protecting and restoring marine
habitats, Three Bays needs a strong, sciencebased management plan and effective ways
to monitor progress. The surveys conducted
this spring using satellite imagery, boats,
underwater cameras, snorkelers and even a drone
(see Page 10) are aimed at informing the design
of these management and monitoring plans.
Equally important for Three Bays is engagement
with local communities—especially fishers and
others who make their living from the land and
sea—to help them adopt more sustainable fishing
practices and to develop alternative income sources.
The Conservancy is also working to encourage
the Haitian government to join the Caribbean
Challenge Initiative this coming year. Although
there is a long road ahead for conservation in Haiti,
the progress of the past year is inspiring hope.
Maxene Atis
The Nature Conservancy’s Haiti
Conservation Coordinator
Maxene was born in northwestern Haiti, studied
geology in Port au Prince, and did development
work for the United Nations before studying
business in Florida. He sees his work for the
Conservancy as a fitting combination of his
science, development and business backgrounds.
“Our job is not just nature or the ecosystems
or the mangroves or the fish, but it’s also the
people living around us,” says Maxene. “It’s
a reality now for Haiti that conservation and
livelihood work hand in hand, and you can’t be
successful in conservation if you don’t take into
account the livelihoods of people.”
Despite the challenges of
working in Haiti, Maxene is
optimistic about the future of
conservation there: “Seeing
resolve on the government
side gives me hope for
the future of Haiti.”
“Our job is not just nature or the ecosystems or the mangroves or the fish,
but it’s also the people living around us.” — Maxene Atis
Atis © Tim Calver opposite page Left to right Rock beauty fish (Holacanthus tricolor) in the Exuma Cays Land and
Sea Park in The Bahamas © Jeff Yonover; Upside-down Jellyfish (Cassiopeia xamachana), found in The Bahamas and throughout
the Caribbean © Tim Calver
tHis page Maxene
4 Caribbean Program 2014 Impact Report
Catalyzing Region-Wide Solutions
Launched in 2008 with The Nature Conservancy’s
support, the Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI)
is inspiring Caribbean nations and territories
to conserve at least 20 percent of their marine
environment by 2020 and create trust funds
to generate long-term funding to support
park management.
To date, 10 governments have signed onto
the CCI, and The Bahamas has become the
first to pass legislation to establish its national
conservation trust fund. This milestone means
that Bahamian marine parks will have a dedicated
source of revenue to employ staff, galvanize local
community support, purchase equipment, build
visitor facilities and monitor ecosystem health.
The new trust fund—the Bahamas Protected
Areas Fund (BPAF)—was designed with the help
of Conservancy staff and established through
legislation adopted by the Bahamian Parliament.
The Bahamas Government has allocated
$2 million to BPAF in this year’s budget. The
BPAF will also receive annual payments in
perpetuity from a regional trust fund called the
Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF). The
CBF is establishing a $42 million permanent
endowment to support commitments under the
CCI and is funded by the German Government,
World Bank/Global Environment Facility and
the Conservancy.
In May 2014, the World Bank contributed
$7.2 million, which marked a significant
milestone and vote of confidence in the ability
of the CBF to serve as a regional conservation
solution. Public and private investors are united
in their recognition of the importance of the
CBF to generate permanent revenue streams
for marine conservation. The CBF and
national trust funds remain a top priority
of the Conservancy’s Caribbean
Program as we work to help put
the Caribbean on a path
to a sustainable future.
“Despite the challenges of climate change and
ocean acidification, marine protected areas can
improve the health of coral reefs.”
— Dr. Robert Steneck, University of Maine School of
Marine Sciences, Conservancy Caribbean Trustee
5
Restoring Coral Reefs
Real Impacts From
Coral Nurseries
In the past year, the number of corals
growing in nurseries has tripled from
less than 5,000 to more than 16,000,
In the clear turquoise waters off the
and the number of nursery-grown corals
southwest coast of New Providence island in out-planted on reefs has doubled to 5,000.
The Bahamas, an array of strange structures
rises from the sandy bottom. It may look
“We are rapidly approaching the scale and
like a grove of underwater Christmas trees,
success rate needed to make significant
but this is a coral nursery—one of 10 set up
ecological impacts,” says Kemit-Amon
by The Nature Conservancy and partners
Lewis, the Conservancy’s Caribbean
over the past five years in The Bahamas and Coral Conservation Manager. Restored
U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). These nurseries reefs will become home to economically
have become the source of amazing and
and ecologically important fish species,
unprecedented coral-restoration success.
attractions for divers and part of healthier,
more resilient reefs.
The idea of coral restoration is relatively
simple. Scientists use SCUBA to collect
The success of coral restoration in the
broken fragments of elkhorn and staghorn
USVI and The Bahamas is being used
coral after reef-damaging storms. Most
as a model throughout the Caribbean,
of these fragments would die once broken
where the degraded state of many reefs
from the reef, but the collected fragments
makes restoration a critical complement
are brought back to nurseries, multiplied
to the establishment of protected areas.
(by breaking them into smaller pieces)
As the forests of coral trees grow, so does
and allowed to grow, hanging from PVC
hope for the renewal of coral reef health
trees to form large arrays with many coral
across the region.
“ornaments” strung from each branch.
When the fragments grow big
enough, they are returned to
Caribbean coral reefs produce $2.7 billion
reefs to speed regrowth.
Training Master Coral Gardeners
With the growth of coral-restoration efforts in the
USVI and The Bahamas, the Conservancy has an
increasing need for divers who can help maintain
and monitor the coral nurseries and support
out-planting efforts. To mobilize volunteer
divers, Conservancy staff have designed a new
specialty course to train recreational divers in
coral restoration.
The course, certified by the Professional Association
of Diving Instructors (PADI), is already being offered
at Stuart Cove’s Dive Resort in The Bahamas, where
Conservancy staff have trained local dive shop staff
to teach the class and lead volunteer maintenance and
monitoring dives. The course will soon be offered
on St. Croix and St. Thomas, in the USVI. The
expanding cadre of coral gardeners not only increases
the capacity to restore reefs, but also educates divers,
both local and visiting, about the importance of reefs
and reef restoration.
in economic benefits from tourism and
$395 million from fisheries each year.
— World Resources Institute
6 Caribbean Program 2014 Impact Report
tHis page Left to right Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornus) outplants in
the U.S. Virgin Islands © Kemit-Amon Lewis/TNC; Volunteer divers at a
coral cleaning demonstration in The Bahamas © Eddy Raphael/TNC
Emmalin Pierre
Parliamentary Representative
for St. Andrew South East
Constituency, Grenada
Climate Resilience for
Island Communities
Small island states like Grenada do not have
the luxury of time in responding to climate
change and sea-level rise. Grenville, on the
island’s east coast, already faces serious flooding
and erosion from the one-two punch of degraded
reefs and coastal storms, and the town’s most
severely affected neighborhoods are also some
of its poorest.
This year, The Nature Conservancy began working
with local officials and community members in
Grenville on an innovative engineering project
that could become a model for protecting small
islands from the impacts of climate change. The
idea is to test several steel, rock and concrete
structures to reduce the water flow and wave
energy that reaches the shoreline. The structures
are designed to allow coralline algae and corals to
grow over them, and to encourage this regrowth,
the Conservancy will also establish a coral nursery.
If the pilot structures are successful, the plan
is to construct a larger array with the help of
community members.
Emmalin Pierre is a member of Grenada’s
Parliament whose constituency is inextricably
linked to the sea. “Up and down this sea coast
are villages where the men and women rely
heavily on the ocean and its resources for
their livelihoods,” she says. “For generations
they have provided for themselves through the
sustainable use of marine resources.”
Coral reefs play a critical role in these
communities—by reducing wave intensity
and erosion and providing the resources
they depend on to make a living. “We are
concerned about the environment,” says Pierre,
“but we also support work to protect the reefs
because by doing so we are protecting the
homes and livelihoods of those who live in
our coastal areas.”
This project is in its early stages, but Conservancy
staff are excited about the potential to develop
low cost and environmentally friendly alternatives
for small islands that will provide protection from
the unrelenting waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
“In the case of the people I represent, these reefs are also
extremely important for protecting their homes and livelihoods.”
— Emmalin Pierre
tHis page Left to Right Children in Grenville, Grenada © Shawn Margles/TNC; Shoreline erosion in Grenville, Grenada © Shawn Margles/TNC;
Emmalin Pierre © St. Andrew South East Constituency
7
Doña Pirigua
Trustee for The Nature Conservancy
in the Caribbean
Rosa Margarita Bonetti de Santana, better
known as Doña Pirigua, is a member of the
Conservancy’s Caribbean Board of Trustees
and the President of Fundación Propagas,
a corporate foundation in the Dominican
Republic whose goal is to inform the public
about the environment through educational
and sociocultural programs.
Doña Pirigua believes that private industry should have
a role in Caribbean conservation. “Philanthropy and
corporate social responsibility help compensate for
the private sector’s ecological footprint,” she says.
“It should work with the state to promote biodiversity
conservation, poverty alleviation, public education
and national development.”
As a native of Santo Domingo, Doña Pirigua is inspired
by and a supporter of the formation of the Dominican
Republic’s new water funds, which she says will “help
ensure the long-term quality and quantity of the water
supply. Conservation and restoration activities will improve
the health of rivers, increase vegetation coverage and
provide water as a source of life.”
With regards to a sustainable future for the Dominican
Republic, Doña Pirigua envisions “a new development
model that is socially just and ecologically balanced.
The more people who join this cause, the more quickly
we will advance.”
People and Nature
Protecting Freshwater in the Dominican Republic
People in many Caribbean island nations have limited freshwater, and this scarce resource
is further stressed by agricultural and urban uses. In the Dominican Republic, The
Nature Conservancy is introducing water funds, tools that are being applied for the first
time on a Caribbean island to conserve watershed-wide freshwater.
Water funds provide a way for the cities, industries and individuals who rely on freshwater
to invest in sustaining it. Water users contribute to the funds in exchange for the water they
consume. Users may range from municipal water systems to farmers and ranchers to factories
or other industry.
After many years of work in the country, 2013 saw the formation of two funds in the
Dominican Republic. One supports the three watersheds that supply water to the
nation’s capital, Santo Domingo. The other focuses on the largest river system in the
Dominican Republic, the Yaque del Norte. Together these watersheds supply water to
60 percent of the country’s population.
As part of the Latin America Water Funds Partnership, Conservancy staff in the
Dominican Republic worked with local partners and government institutions to help
design the water funds. Water fund revenues can be channeled to existing reforestation
work, as well as to improving management of established national parks within the
affected watersheds. Revenues can also go to highland communities who institute
conservation measures.
Protection of water sources through the water funds will reduce the impact of dry periods
on farmers and improve the health of downstream ecosystems—all while helping to provide
sustainable freshwater for the people who live in cities and towns throughout the watersheds.
The Conservancy’s $1.7 million investment in two transformational
water funds in the Dominican Republic will support watersheds
that serve 60 percent of the country’s population.
8 Caribbean Program 2014 Impact Report
See Food Sustainably
The Nature Conservancy and partners have
launched a new sustainable seafood program
on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The
Reef Responsible Sustainable Seafood
Initiative provides training and educational
materials about sustainability and fishing
practices for restaurant owners, fishers and
the wider community. The program also
includes a certification component—local
restaurants can sign on and implement
sustainable sourcing for the seafood they
serve and in return receive branding and
promotion as “Reef Responsible.” This
program will promote sustainable seafood
and reduce overfishing and harmful fishing
practices—leading to healthier reefs while
preserving the future of fishing communities
through sustainable harvesting.
The Conservancy is supporting mangrove restoration
efforts, with Île à Vache residents planting 150,000
seedlings this past year alone. The Conservancy
is also introducing local people to sustainable
farming methods that help reduce the
erosion of soil into coastal waters and
provide alternative food sources to
take pressure off of fish populations.
The Conservancy and partners
inaugurated an agricultural
demonstration site in May that
will serve as a model of techniques
for residents to use on their own
properties, and the profits from
vegetables being sold there are
going back to support island
conservation efforts.
Restoring Haiti’s South Coast
Île à Vache, or “Cow Island,” in Haiti, served
as the operations base for the pirate Captain
Morgan in the 17th century. Today, this small,
20-square-mile island is home to 14,000
people and is struggling to support its three
primary sources of livelihood—fishing,
farming and tourism. The harvesting of
mangroves on the island has left the coast
more vulnerable to flooding and has led to a
decline in fish populations.
fishermen prepare nets © Tim Calver; Black
mangrove (Avicennia germinans) seedling © Tim Calver; Elina Mathurin
with mangrove seedlings she’s growing for coastline restoration in Île à
Vache, Haiti © Tim Calver opposite page Haina-Duey watershed, which
provides water to the city of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic © Erick
Conde/TNC; Inset Doña Pirigua © Rubén Román
tHis page Caribbean
9
It’s a Bird, it’s a Drone—it’s Henri!
By Dr. Steve Schill, Caribbean
Program Senior Scientist
The small, agile quadcopter touched down and
landed softly on the water. It took off again,
circled 250 feet above us and smoothly drifted
through the air along a preprogrammed path.
The local Haitian fishers looked up and stared
in awe at this strange new flying machine. They
are not alone in their fascination with drones,
which have recently gained press attention for uses
ranging from military operations to Amazon home
delivery. So far, most uses in conservation have
focused on monitoring poaching and counting
wildlife. As a mapping technology nerd, I have
been following these developments with the aim
of building a drone to map marine habitats for
The Nature Conservancy’s Caribbean Program.
My opportunity arrived when Jordan Mitchell,
one of the students in a remote sensing class I
teach, showed an uncanny skill for drone building
and operations. Impressed, I challenged Jordan to
design a drone on a $2,000 budget. There was one
catch: This drone had to be amphibious—able to
land and take off from water and survey habitats
both above and below water.
In less than a month, Jordan had the drone
designed, built and tested. Weighing in at just
under five pounds, “Henri” (named for the early
nineteenth century king of Northern Haiti) has
a tough frame equipped with a high-def GoPro
camera, GPS-enabled autopilot chip and other
electronics tucked neatly inside an upside-down
Tupperware container that serves as the perfect
waterproof housing.
Over a few days in May, our team collected several
hours of videos using Henri along the coast of
“Drones provide a new way to visualize our environment, giving greater
insight for understanding and mapping our ever-changing world.”
— Dr. Steve Schill
10 Caribbean Program 2014 Impact Report
the newly declared Three Bays National Park
(see Page 4) in northern Haiti. These videos are
being used to document ecological conditions
and validate habitat maps derived from satellite
imagery. Henri gave us a different perspective on
the coastal environment from what we normally
see from satellite images or boat surveys. The
video footage has given us us a sense of the ocean
dynamics around the reef and allowed us to
identify species of interest such as green turtles
and rare corals.
As our team packed up Henri and returned home,
we had all gained a new appreciation for drone
technology and what it offers the conservation
world. Drones can provide enhanced information
to protected area managers to allow them to better
monitor impacts, assess the health of habitats and
evaluate the success of management strategies. As
for Jordan, he ended up getting an A in the class.
Looking Ahead:
The Opportunity in Cuba
Off the southeastern
coast of Cuba, in waters
dubbed Jardines de la
Reina or “Gardens of the
Queen,” are some of the
Caribbean’s most pristine
and spectacular remaining
reefs. The gradual opening
up of Cuba has allowed
scientists from The Nature Conservancy to discover
for themselves the beauty and ecological importance
of these and other outstanding Cuban reefs.
Ironically, the same isolation that kept scientists out
has also helped protect these habitats from many of
the impacts of tourism, overfishing and pollution
that have devastated many other Caribbean reefs.
But Cuban reefs are just as vulnerable as those in
neighboring countries to the impacts of climate
change, including sea-level rise and coral bleaching,
and as Cuba opens to researchers, it may also open
to some of the destructive forces that come with
economic development.
Cuba is bigger than all the other islands in the
Caribbean put together and is home to more than a
third of all the reefs in the region. They are a haven
for healthy populations of sea turtles, manatees, sharks
and other large fish. Several Caribbean currents flow
through Cuban waters, allowing it to function as
a source of animals for other reefs in the region.
Cuba’s 2,500 miles of
coral reefs comprise
nearly a third of all
reefs in the Caribbean.
Another feature that makes Cuba special is the
government’s relatively early designation of marine
protected areas—starting in the early 2000’s.
But reserve managers in Cuba are challenged by a
shortage of financial and technological resources
to manage their parks efficiently.
Cuban and U.S. laws currently limit the Conservancy’s
role to advising, training and technical assistance.
In partnership with the Cuban National Center
for Protected Areas, Conservancy staff have
been offering training workshops in Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) and other technical
topics to help marine reserve managers and other
government conservation staff build essential skills
to better steward Cuban parks.
With Conservancy staff serving as advisors to
a variety of marine and terrestrial conservation
projects throughout Cuba, we are poised to take
on a greater role there as restrictions allow. As
travel continues to flow more freely to Cuba’s
shores, it is essential that the Conservancy and
partners actively participate in safeguarding the
relatively pristine environment that many of those
visitors will flock to see.
tHis page Left to Right Cuban Trogon (Priotelus temnurus), which is only found in Cuba © Allan J. Sander; Gardens of the Queen National Park,
Cuba © Ian Shive opposite page Drone in action in Three Bays National Park, Haiti © Tim Calver; Inset Senior Scientist Dr. Steve Schill (center), with volunteers Jordan Mitchell (left) and Dr. George Raber (right) and “Henri”, the drone. © Tim Calver
11
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