Honduras has become the 26th Country to ratify the Cartagena Convention

Key decisions related to work of the Secretariat to the Cartagena Convention for the 2019-2020 biennium are expected to be formulated in Roatan, Honduras when delegates meet from June 3-7, 2019. The Honduran Government will host the 15th Meeting of Contracting Parties to the Cartagena Convention, the 10th Meeting of Contracting Parties to the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol and the 4th Meeting of Contracting Parties to the Land-Based Sources of Marine Pollution (LBS) Protocol.

The Fourth Intergovernmental Review Meeting of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities will be held from Wednesday 31 October to Thursday 1 November 2018. 

The GEF Biennial International Waters Conference (IWC) is the signature event of the GEF IW Portfolio. The IWC objectives are to facilitate cross-sectoral and GEF IW Portfolio-wide learning and experience sharing. They strive to solicit advice from the existing GEF IW Portfolio on burning issues and to assist in building participant capacity in key management and technical areas. Participants sum up progress achieved and look to the future of programming within and beyond the GEF IW Focal Area.

The 71st annual conference of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) will be held in San Andres, Colombia from 5–9 November 2018. The meeting is being hosted by the Corporation for the Sustainable Development of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina.

Ministers encouraged to include and develop environmentally and financially sustainable partnerships

Tourism, Fisheries and Agriculture are the leading industries contributing to the economic growth of many Caribbean islands. The social, economic and environmental development of the islands depend on these industries, most of them tied intricately to the environment.

Joint measures to reduce the pollution through assessment and improved management

The Eighth Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) to the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) in the Wider Caribbean Region will be held in Panama on 5 -7 December, 2018.  This meeting proposes to review the achievements of the SPAW sub-programme during 2017- 2018 and to develop the workplan of SPAW for the 2019-2020 biennium.