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Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. Hope you’ll join us here every Saturday. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.
Climate change and the environment are crucial issues to fight for, because all of our lives depend on it. Given the Trump cabal’s denialist stance on climate change, this battle has never been more critical. As United States residents, we need to deal with environmental issues here at home—but we also need to be cognizant and supportive of organizations, initiatives, and leaders in our neighboring Caribbean region. We must also be aware of the fact that some of these programs depended on funding from the U.S. and that those monies may have already been cut off by the lunatics currently in charge of our country.
Here is a look at some of the organizations and individuals who are making a difference.
Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program
The Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program is a five-year project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by The Nature Conservancy, that aims to achieve sustained biodiversity conservation, maintain and restore critical ecosystems and realize tangible improvements in human and community wellbeing.
Operating in five target countries—Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica and St. Vincent & the Grenadines—this program focuses on creating and effectively managing marine conserved areas and establishing and promoting sustainable fisheries. By addressing direct and indirect threats to coastal and marine biodiversity, the Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program works to ensure a sustainable future where nature and people can thrive.
Working with partners, we strive to protect biodiversity and improve community wellbeing across critical seascapes in the Caribbean.
The organization’s three-minute video on the importance of biodiversity, produced three years ago, needs to be shared more widely
The Nature Conservancy created this next video. The description notes:
The food we eat, the air we breathe, our climate—everything that makes Earth inhabitable—all depends on the interplay of billions of species around the world. This is biodiversity. And unfortunately, it is rapidly declining.But it’s not too late. We’re at a pivotal moment when we can still reverse the loss of nature—for the sake of all life on Earth. Learn more at http://nature.org/naturenow
Five months ago, the group documented its work protecting sea turtles:
Here’s a closer look at the work of The Nature Conservancy in the Carribean:
TNC’s work in the Caribbean began in the Virgin Islands and, for over 40 years now, we’ve been restoring coral reefs, protecting beaches and safeguarding wildlife like sea turtles in this paradise of islands and sea
Coral Reef Alliance — Western Caribbean
The Mesoamerican Reef within the Western Caribbean is the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere and home to some of the last healthy populations of staghorn and elkhorn corals. Its picturesque beaches and dive sites attract visitors from around the world. But it faces significant threats, including climate change, land-based pollution, and unsustainable fishing.
Here are some of the individuals who are leading the charge, starting with Veta Wade.
Fish ‘N Fins Inc. is a black woman-owned non-profit committed to building a more equitable blue economy through marine conservation. We collaborate with nonprofit, private, and government clients globally to design and implement conservation initatives and ocean-climate solutions. Our community-led approach involves providing immersive field school opportunities, co-designing affordable technology for data collection, data visualization and more. We prioritize creating culturally relevant comunication products through our story lab, specificially tailored for small-scale fishing communities, yatch enthusiasts and cruisers.
Wade is the founder of Fish ‘N Fins Inc., a marine conservation program Montserrat that teaches children to swim, snorkel, and dive while creating knowledgeable, passionate ocean stewards.The Fish ’N Fins Smart(er) Tourism approach for ocean and coastal restoration and protection seeks to embed science, learning, and exploration technologies within the tourism industry to advance a more equitable and resilient Caribbean blue economy. Wade will take you on her journey to accelerate progress on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal #14 and beat entrenched social and economic inequalities to act urgently for our ocean this decade.
Next is Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Johnson gave a short and important TED talk in 2019 on how and why she got started as a marine activist. It was titled “A coral reef love story”:
The TED video notes:
Over the course of hundreds of scuba dives, marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson fell in love — with a fish. In this ode to parrotfish, she shares five reasons why these creatures are simply amazing (from their ability to poop white sand to make colorful “wardrobe changes”) and shows what’s at stake — for us and them — as climate change threatens the future of coral reefs.
FYI: You can follow her on Bluesky.
St. Maarten native Tadzio Bervoets was appointed as chairman of the Intergovernmental Oceonographic Commission’s Ocean Decade Task Force for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024.
The IOC, with its 150 Member States, spearheads global cooperation in marine science, ocean services, and capacity building to support sustainable ocean management. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the IOC operates through its regional subsidiary, IOCARIBE, fostering international collaboration and coordinating crucial research and development initiatives in the Tropical Americas and the Caribbean.
Bervoets brings a wealth of experience and dedication to his new role. As Chair, he will guide the Task Force in its mission to harness ocean science for the sustainable development of the region, reinforcing the significance of marine research and the application of scientific knowledge in policy-making and management practices.
Kristin Baird Rattini wrote “Conservationist Tadzio Bervoets Is a Force of Nature” for Yachting magazine:
Tadzio Bervoets was born and raised on St. Maarten, where nature was his playground. From his first swimming and snorkeling lessons at age 7, Bervoets was entranced by coral reefs, fish and especially sharks. But as he grew up, became a professional diver and noticed negative changes along the reef, “the ocean became something more than recreation,” he says. “It became my passion.”
Now one of the leading conservationists in the Caribbean, Bervoets’ passion is his life’s work. He’s the managing director of the St. Maarten Nature Foundation, which spearheaded the creation of the Man of War Shoal Marine Park, St. Maarten’s first protected marine area. He is also director of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance, where he coordinates regional and international efforts to protect the Caribbean’s fragile ecosystems. The DCNA drove the establishment of the Yarari Marine Mammal and Shark Sanctuary around Saba and Bonaire.
In 2020, Bervoets co-founded the Caribbean Shark Coalition to increase and streamline the collection of data on sharks by organizations throughout the islands.
Bervoets tells his story in this 2021 video, when he was still the director of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance:
Beneath The Waves produced a video about Bervoets:
Tadzio Bervoets is the director of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance and a Scientific & Marine Policy Advisor for our team at Beneath the Waves.This week, he leads a collaborative team of researchers hoping to find and tag pregnant tiger sharks on the Saba Banks, to further understand the importance and value of the Yarari Sanctuary, a marine protected area. By learning more about how these large apex predators use these ecosystems, we seek to better protect them in the Dutch Caribbean’s Yarari Marine Mammal and Shark Sanctuary and beyond
In case you missed these stories, you can also explore our archive:
Caribbean Matters: With Earth Day on the way, let’s talk coral reefs and climate change
Caribbean Matters: What is ‘responsible’ tourism, and why is it important?
Caribbean Matters: Inside the efforts to protect the sperm whales of Dominica
Caribbean Matters: The severe impact of climate change on the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Caribbean Matters: Sargassum seaweed continues to spread
Caribbean Matters: It’s World Turtle Day. Caribbean people are fighting to protect them
Caribbean Matters: In Puerto Rico, mangroves are the first line of hurricane defense
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