Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for St. Kitts and Nevis - WIDECAST

St. Kitts and Nevis Sea Turtles…
V (pollution by garbage) was amended in 1991, making the Caribbean a "Special Area". Stricter
requirements are applied to special areas than elsewhere, in order to provide greater protection
for the environment.
The most important treaty for St. Kitts/Nevis to ratify with regard to the protection of sea
turtles and the habitats upon which they depend is the United Nations Environment Programme's
(UNEP) Regional Seas Convention in the Caribbean, known as the Convention for the Protection
and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (or, "Cartagena
Convention"). The Convention is coupled with an Action Plan, known as the Action Plan for the
Caribbean Environment Programme (APCEP). The First Intergovernmental Meeting on APCEP
was convened by UNEP in cooperation with the Economic Commission for Latin America
(ECLA) in Montego Bay, Jamaica, 6-8 April 1981. The representatives of Governments from 22
States in the region (St. Kitts/Nevis was not represented) adopted APCEP at this meeting and
established the Caribbean Trust Fund to support common costs and activities associated with the
implementation of the Action Plan.
In March, 1983, a Conference of Plenipotentiaries met in Cartagena, Colombia to
negotiate the "Cartagena Convention". Representatives from 16 States participated (again, St.
Kitts/ Nevis was not represented). The Conference adopted both the Convention and a Protocol
concerning cooperation in combating oil spills in the region. The Convention describes the
responsibilities of Contracting Parties to "prevent, reduce and control" pollution from a variety of
sources (i.e. pollution from ships, from at-sea dumping of waste, from land-based sources, from
seabed activities, and from airborne sources). Article 10 is of special interest in that it addresses
the responsibilities of Contracting Parties to "individually or jointly, take all appropriate
measures to protect and preserve rare or fragile ecosystems, as well as the habitat of depleted,
threatened or endangered species, in the Convention area." The Cartagena Convention entered
into force on 11 October 1986.
In January 1990, a Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW)
to the Cartagena Convention was adopted by a Conference of Plenipotentiaries, providing a
mechanism whereby species of wild fauna and flora could be protected on a regional scale. The
landmark Protocol grants explicit protection to species listed in three categories, or annexes.
Annex I includes species of flora exempt from all forms of destruction or disturbance. Annex II
ensures total protection and recovery to listed species of fauna, with minor exceptions.
Specifically, Annex II listing prohibits (a) the taking, possession or killing (including, to the
extent possible, the incidental taking, possession or killing) or commercial trade in such species,
their eggs, parts or products, and (b) to the extent possible, the disturbance of such species,
particularly during periods of breeding, incubation, estivation or migration, as well as other
periods of biological stress. Annex III denotes species in need of "protection and recovery", but
subject to a regulated harvest.
On 11 June 1991, Plenipotentiaries again met in Kingston, Jamaica, to formally adopt the
Annexes. The Conference voted unanimously to include all six species of sea turtle inhabiting
the Wider Caribbean (i.e., Caretta caretta, Chelonia mydas, Eretmochelys imbricata, Dermochelys
coriacea, Lepidochelys kempii, and L. olivacea) in Annex II (UNEP, 1991; Eckert, 1991).
The unanimous vote on this issue is a clear statement on the part of Caribbean governments that
Page 67