HISTORIC AGREEMENT TO PROTECT THE CARIBBEAN SEA COMES INTO FORCE

26 May 2000

Amsterdam - Greenpeace welcome today the ratification of an historic agreement to protect the Caribbean Sea flora and fauna, the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife Protocol (SPAW Protocol), which came into fore yesterday.

The Protocol comes into force once nine member states have ratified it. With the latest ratification by St Lucia, plus the previous ratification by Columbia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Panama, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela, the Protocol is now legally binding for these nine members states.

The SPAW Protocol - created in 1990 by the 28 member states of the Cartagena Convention - will protect species of fauna and flora listed in the Protocol's three Annexes, including all species of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), sea turtles, crocodiles and coral reefs.

Other countries have recently announced their intention to ratify the protocol, such as Belize, Dominica, France, Jamaica and the United Kingdom. This would still leave 14 states to sign the protocol that covers and area from Florida, Mexico and the Bahamas down to Guyana and Suriname, and eastward to the Eastern Caribbean.

"We want to sincerely congratulate the nine countries who took the first step to ratify this historic protocol and thereby bringing it into force. We would also like to thank the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) for preparing the Protocol and the non-governmental organisations world-wide for supporting it. However, this Protocol will not become effective - protecting the whole of the Caribbean Sea marine environment - until all of the Cartagena Convention Member States have ratified it, most notably the United States, Mexico, France and the United Kingdom", said John Frizell, Greenpeace International Ocean campaigner.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
- Luisa Colasimone, Greenpeace Communication, +31 20 52 49 546 or
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