Map of protected areas in the South Department of Haiti
UNEP
Advocacy for EbA/Eco-DRR in marine protected areas
Designing Marine protected areas help protect ecosystems so that they can provide their multiple services such as coastal protection and food sources.
The project supported the case for the declaration of Port Salut as one of the MPAs, by making baseline data available on the diversity and status of coastal and marine ecosystems in the area and emphasizing the multiple benefits of protecting these ecosystems, in particular for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The protected area of managed resources of Port Salut/Aquin now covers 87,422 hectares of the coastal zone of Port Salut Municipality.
Having field activities serve as an entry point to promote ecosystem-based activities within the framework of marine protected areas and coastal governance at the national level and raise national awareness of coastal and marine issues.
Before 2013, Haiti was the only Caribbean country without Marine Protected Areas (MPA). UNEP leveraged on initial governmental discussions that had taken place while the project was being conceptualised and supported the Government of Haiti to finalize the designation of marine protected areas in Haiti, and provided technical assistance to the Government to draft the MPA declaration. In 2013 the Government of Haiti declared the country’s first nine marine protected areas including the coastal zone of Port Salut - with the objective to “maintain biodiversity, while responding to the needs of the communities that depend on these natural systems”.