Building a Protected Area network


• The MAR Program and The Global Marine Initiative meeting took place in Santa Cruz, California, with the University of California support. During this meeting a work plan was established based on the review to identify information gaps that will be used to develop the Eco-regional Evaluation. A consultant was hired by the Program to gather and analyze available information in order to start the evaluation process. Results are expected in the near future, in time to be shared at the Tulum+8 meeting.

• In coordination with The South Mexico Program and The TNC Marine Initiative, a resilience workshop was organized in Mexico during which The Resilience Tool Box of Coral R2 was distributed. It is planned to include the resilience principles in the Eco-regional Evaluation with the consultant and TNC expert staff’s support. First stage will be developed together with the Sian Ka’an Friends and CONANP, to use the AGRRA (Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment) method to carry out the evaluation in the Mexico region. Next stage is to implement the same methodology in Honduras, Belize and Guatemala.

Managing Platform Sites


• The support to Gladden Spit local partners (to use biological criteria, the Monitoring Protocol and the data base, as well as the interchange of knowledge, experiences and tools to protected areas management) was successful. Therefore this methodology was replicated in Mexico and Honduras workshops with strong support from the national TNC offices.

 

Developing capacities


• MAR Program hired a consultant to design a Learning Center. A meeting with the most active participants from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize is planned to consider spawning aggregation conservation and to exchange knowledge and experiences to standardize compiled information.

• The Monitoring Protocol of Spawning Aggregation, created under The Nature Conservancy initiative, was adopted by the Fishing Department of Belize and the Mesoamerican Reef System Project (SAM, Spanish acronym). The version 2.0 and the data base to manage the compiled information will be both available very soon.

Socioeconomic Alternatives


• An innovative study about socioeconomic structure was completed with the support of Belize and Mexico TNC program. This study considers key indicators that integrate biological systems with economic data using the community viability concept.

 

Supporting policies

• MAR Program participated in the meeting of the Tulum +8 counselor committee that took place in Miami. This meeting goal was to establish the activity calendar. A guiding committee was also established; it is made up by government and CCAD representatives. A group of “Mesoamerican Region’s Friends” was established and there was a suggestion to employ TNC marketing capacities to strengthening it.