Montego Bay, Jamaica
7th October 2010

At  the  Fourteenth Intergovernmental Meeting on the Action Plan for the Caribbean Environment Programme and Eleventh Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region  being held in  Montego Bay, Jamaica, today the Bahamas announced its accession to the Cartagena Convention as well as its Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities in the Wider Caribbean (LBS).  After Guyana’s recent accession to the Cartagena Convention and all three of its protocols (Oil Spills, SPAW and LBS) becoming the 8th Party to the LBS Protocol, the accession by the Bahamas as its 9th Party means that the LBS now officially enters into force as a legal instrument and that there will be stronger pollution control measures in place in Caribbean waters at a time when the effects of sea temperature rise and climate change are of major concern to coastal communities with regard to the  conservation of the region’s marine biodiversity.

The Cartagena Convention now has 25 member countries, out of a total of 28 countries in the Wider Caribbean, only Haiti, Suriname, and Honduras have not yet acceded. SPAW now has 14 contracting parties.

Special thanks to Paul Hoetjes

It is available online for free, and there is one edition in English, and another in French.

Go to:
www.crisponline.net/CRISPPRODUCTS/Biodiversityknowledgeandconservation/tabid/317/Default.aspx

You will find a number of other informative publications on a variety of reef topics as well at this web page, all free to download.

 There is also a printed version of the crustacean guide which has both languages, not sure how to get that, best to contact CRISP.

The photos are gorgeous, and the text informative, it covers 223 species.  There is a section of general information on crustaceans at the beginning of the book.  The book covers reef, shore, mangrove, stream, and terrestrial species.

Enjoy!
Doug Fenner, Australian Institute of Marine Sciences

Special thanks to Doug Fenner and the Coral-list.

http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=fb7357aafe4ce51894c41682b&id=d65f181b07&e=1c101f3bc0

For the more than 400 of us who participated in the March 2009 Blue Vision Summit in Washington, D.C., it was both an inspiration and a practical chance to develop strategies and begin solving ocean problems early in the new administration. (See the Summit video narrated by Sylvia Earle and directed by David McGuire).

Following this historic gathering, we’ve seen the launch of the first U.S. Ocean Policy based on ocean health, but we’ve also seen an oily catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico and continued declines in the health of our public seas and waterways.  That’s why we hope you’ll SAVE THE DATES and be part of a much needed third Blue Vision Summit in Washington, D.C. May 21-23, 2011.

This will follow the fourth annual Blue Frontier/Peter Benchley Ocean Awards that will take place on Friday, May 20, 2011 also in Washington, D.C.  SAVE THE DATE!

Planning meetings for the next Summit are scheduled for Wednesday, November 10 at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C. and Wednesday, November 17 at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

For more information or if you’re group wants to be a sponsor and planner of the summit or the Benchley awards, please contact info@bluefront.org.

Special thanks to David Helvarg.

Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce the release of 3 new publications promoting
solutions to the global ocean crisis. Produced by the Science-to-Action
partnership, which includes more than 75 organizations led by Conservation
International’s Marine Management Area Science Program, the publications are
based on 5 years of natural and social science research in over 70 marine
managed areas in 23 tropical countries.

Drawing on the results of more than 50 studies, the Science-to-Action
partnership offers recommendations for successful implementation of marine
managed areas (MMAs) to maximize the benefits to people and nature. The
findings and recommendations are presented in 3 reader-friendly, richly
illustrated booklets:

• People and Oceans explores the role of people in marine managed areas,
including the human well-being benefits and challenges of MMAs, and how
socioeconomic conditions affect success.
http://www.science2action.org/peopleandoceans

• Living with the Sea examines the role of MMAs in restoring and sustaining
healthy oceans, particularly the importance of local management efforts.
http://www.science2action.org/livingwiththesea

• Marine Managed Areas: What, Why, and Where defines MMAs and discusses the
challenges of implementation.
http://www.science2action.org/mmas-whatwhyandwhere

I encourage you to use these booklets to advance discussions with government
agencies, non-government organizations, user groups, and other stakeholders
to influence better decisions for coastal and ocean resources and about how
and why to implement integrated management systems for the ocean.

These and other publications may be downloaded in pdf format at our new
website http://www.science2action.org. Please contact Septiana Rustandi at
s.rustandi@conservation.org if you would like printed copies of the
booklets. Figures and illustrations from the booklets are provided on the
website in jpeg format for use in presentations and documents. Additional
information on marine managed areas and the Science-to-Action global
learning network is also available at http://www.science2action.org.

The MMAS Program welcomes feedback on the utility of these documents.

With kind regards,
John J.Tschirky
Conservation International
Marine Managed Areas Science Program
2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 500
Arlington, VA 22202  USA
office: 703 341 2628
email: j.tschirky@conservation.org
_______________________________________________
Special thanks to Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List@coral.aoml.noaa.gov
http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list

Richard Charter notes:  Perhaps of interest to various groups, major National Council for Science and the Environment conference in DC in January 2011 with the first day (January 19, called the “Oil and Oceans Symposium”) to incorporate a focus in the plenary sessions on offshore drilling, including the Arctic Ocean:

“Our Changing Oceans”  Draft Agenda http://ncseonline.org/conference/Oceans/cms.cfm?id=4028

Also inviting “Collaborators” without fiscal commitment: http://ncseonline.org/conference/Oceans/cms.cfm?id=3702

NCSE’s 11th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Our Changing Oceans will provide a forum to address the crisis facing our oceans, new knowledge and innovative tools to effectively face this challenge, and the policy and governance needed to restore and protect the oceans.

Expecting over 1,000 attendees, Our Changing Oceans will bring together scientists, professionals, policy makers, university faculty and students, and educated citizens from a wide range of disciplines to share their perspectives and work to address the topic at hand. This year, all three days of the event will be held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

NCSE utilizes a multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach to convene involved scientists and decision-makers from various sectors of society. Our conferences include renowned speakers, topical symposia to explore issues in depth, and breakout sessions to develop a set of recommendations on how to advance science and connect it to policy and decision-making.

We welcome you to join us in our 11th year of this impactful event!

Special thank to Richard Charter