Last updated: June 2024
As a result of a ReefFix Project, an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Coral Reef and Mangrove Restoration and Watershed Management Demonstration programme, the Three Bays Marine Protected Area (MPA) and associated Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Plan have been established in Haiti (Refs. 4, 5 and 7). Only the second MPA to be established in the country, the Three Bays MPA includes the bays of Limonade, Caracol and Ft. Liberté (the administrative capital of the Nord-East department of Haiti), as well as the Lagon aux Boeufs. As summarised by Ref. 8, the establishment of the MPA and ICZM "will help protect the mangroves, eel grass beds, reefs and habitats housing important fisheries that are crucial for providing livelihoods to nearby communities. It will also help protect the area from storm surges and provide local communities with ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, tourism value and more". Additionally, the MPA will afford protection to numerous threatened species, "including sea turtles, whales, manatees and migratory birds" (Ref. 8).
Map of northeastern Haiti showing the location and boundaries of the 3Bays Marine Protected Area
https://canari.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PISCES-case-study-FoProBIM-FINAL.pdf
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Blue infrastructure
- Coastlines
- Coastal wetland, mangroves and salt marshes
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Climate change mitigation
- Coastal resilience and marine protection (SDG 14)
- Coastal protection / hazard mitigation
- Marine and coastal biodiversity protection
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Habitat and biodiversity conservation
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Flood protection
- Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
- Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
- Inclusive governance
- Effective management
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Environmental education
Focus
Coastal landscape management or protection, Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Protection of natural ecosystems, Knowledge creation and awareness raising, Strategy, plan or policy development, Improved governance of green or blue areas
Project objectives
The establishment of the MPA aimed to support the objectives of the ICZM Coral Reef and Mangrove Restoration and Watershed Management Demonstration programme "to restore and effectively manage coastal resources through the use and development of cost-effective techniques and economic validation of ecosystems" (Ref. 6) such that ecosystem services could be best harnessed and "value of all three linked ecosystems: mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs" leveraged (Ref. 7). The programme sought to ensure increased ecosystem connectivity and resilience, particularly in light of the increasing impacts of climate change and specifically "climate change-induced sea-level rise and temperature increases" (Ref. 7). The ICZM further focused on social aspects including "improved governance with communities, awareness building [and promotion of] sustainable livelihoods" (Ref. 7).
Implementation activities
Beginning in 2000, a Haitian "apolitical, nongovernmental, non-profit organisation" (Ref. 4), the Fondation pour la
Protection de la Biodiversité Marine (FoProBiM) "outlined the original park boundaries; and undertook ecosystem valuation exercises for the area in 2009 and 2013 for the Organization of American States/Department of Sustainable Development (OAS/DSD)" (Ref. 8). FoProBiM further actively participated in the "preparation of the legal framework and final establishment of the present park boundaries to help bring about the MPA’s designation" (Ref. 8).
Through the establishment of the ICZM Coral Reef and Mangrove Restoration and Watershed Management Demonstration programme and the Three Bays MPA, measures have been introduced to "protect the mangroves, eel grass beds, reefs and habitats housing important fisheries" in the area (Ref. 8). Project implementation activities directly related to NBS include mangrove reforestation/rehabilitation and coral reef rehabilitation (Ref. 4). Further activities undertaken by FoProBiM to support the implementation of the project include:
"• The development of environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative income-generating activities (such as kayaking, apiculture, breadfruit flour, aquaculture)
• Gear swaps (in which unsustainable gear is being replaced)
• Education/stewardship classes
• Development of a game wardens unit
• Capacity building for local stakeholder groups
• Installation of mooring buoys
• Installation of marker buoys to demarcate MPA boundaries
• Development of new laws/regulations for the management of the MPA".
A co-management agreement with the National Protected Areas Agency (ANAP) was further signed by FoProBiM (Ref. 4).
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Protect coastal and freshwater ecosystems to prevent coastal erosion and pollution
- Restore wetlands and/or coastal ecosystems to dissipate the effects of flooding and/or storms
Climate change mitigation:
- Implement sustainable forest management measures to increase carbon sinks/ improve carbon storage
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity conservation:
- Protect and enhance urban habitats
- Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
- Preserve and strengthen habitat connectivity
- Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
- Protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect endangered species
- Undertake specific measures to protect valued species
- Means for conservation governance
- Manage biological resources for conservation and sustainable use
- Public engagement
Biodiversity restoration:
- Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
- Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
- Restore ecological connectivity
Main beneficiaries
- Citizens or community groups
- Food producers and cultivators (i.e. farmers, gardeners)
- Young people and children
- Other
Governance
Management set-up
- Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Non-government organisation/civil society
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Dissemination of information and education
- Co-management/Joint management
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The Foundation pour la Protection de la Biodiversité Marine (FoProBiM) "outlined the original park boundaries, and undertook ecosystem valuation exercises for the area in 2009 and 2013 for the Organization of American States/Department of Sustainable Development (OAS/DSD)" (Ref. 8). FoProBiM further actively participated in the "preparation of the legal framework and final establishment of the present park boundaries to help bring about the MPA’s designation", and led on capacity building for local stakeholder groups and development of new laws/regulations for the management of the MPA (Refs. 4 and 8). A co-management agreement with the National Protected Areas Agency (ANAP) was further signed by FoProBiM (Ref. 4).
FoProBiM has "managed to undertake most of its activities with minimal contact with the public sector...operat[ing] with minimal interference and engagement from local authorities for various reasons...[having] discovered that engaging with local authorities often negatively affects the achievement of project goals" (Ref. 4). Local civil society organisations (CSOs) have also engaged in the project, with "FoProBiM...working with all levels of government from the Ministry of Environment and the National Protected Areas Agency (ANAP) down to the local area supervisors" (Ref. 4). Primary beneficiaries have also engaged in the project, including " Local women..., church, youth, fishers, farmers, school, and salt producer groups" (Ref. 4).
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
No
... a national policy or strategy?
No
... a local policy or strategy?
No
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
- Multilateral funds/international funding
- Private Foundation/Trust
Type of funding
- Unknown
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Increased protection against sea level rise
- Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
- Enhanced carbon sequestration
- Water management and blue areas
- Increased protection against flooding
- Enhanced protection and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems
- Green space and habitat
- Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
- Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales
- Reduced biodiversity loss
- Increased number of species present
- Increased protection of threatened species
- Enhanced support of pollination
Economic impacts
- Increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)
- More sustainable tourism
- Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
- Generation of income from NBS
- Other
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Education
- Increased support for education and scientific research
- Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
- Safety
- Improved community safety to climate-related hazards
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts, Achieved impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
References
1. Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (n.d.). CEPF and Climate Change. Arlington, Virginia: Conservation International. Source link [accessed 14/10/21];
2. Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (n.d.). Biodiversity and Nature-Based Climate Solutions. Arlington, Virginia: Conservation International. Source link [accessed 14/10/21];
3. Schueler, K (2017). Nature-Based Solutions to Enhance Coastal Resilience. Washington, D.C: Inter-American Development Bank. Source link [accessed 14/10/21];
4. Weiner, J. 2019. Fondation pour la Protection de la Biodiversité Marine (FoProBiM): Enabling co-management of the Three Bays (3Bays) Marine Protected Area, Haiti through civil society leadership. Port of Spain: CANARI. Source link [accessed 14/10/21];
5. Organization of American States (2014). Haiti Creates New Marine Protected Area. Washington, D.C: Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI) News. Source link [accessed 14/10/21];
6. Organization of American States (n.d.). ReefFix: An Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Ecosystem Services Valuation and Capacity Building Project for the Caribbean. Toward the Development of Haiti's System of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) - An Ecosystem Services Assessment for the Creation of Haiti's System of MPAs. Washington, D.C: Organization of American States. Source link [accessed 14/10/21];
7. Wiener, J (2013). Toward the Development of Haiti’s System of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs): An Ecosystem Services Assessment for the Creation of Haiti’s System of MPAs. ReefFix: An Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Ecosystem Services Valuation and Capacity Building Project for the Caribbean. Revision 1. Haiti: Fondation pour la Protection de la Biodiversité Marine (FoProBiM). Source link [accessed 14/10/21]; and
8. Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (2014). Annual Portfolio Overview July 2013 - September 2014: Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot. Arlington, Virginia: Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. Source link [accessed 14/10/21].
2. Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (n.d.). Biodiversity and Nature-Based Climate Solutions. Arlington, Virginia: Conservation International. Source link [accessed 14/10/21];
3. Schueler, K (2017). Nature-Based Solutions to Enhance Coastal Resilience. Washington, D.C: Inter-American Development Bank. Source link [accessed 14/10/21];
4. Weiner, J. 2019. Fondation pour la Protection de la Biodiversité Marine (FoProBiM): Enabling co-management of the Three Bays (3Bays) Marine Protected Area, Haiti through civil society leadership. Port of Spain: CANARI. Source link [accessed 14/10/21];
5. Organization of American States (2014). Haiti Creates New Marine Protected Area. Washington, D.C: Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI) News. Source link [accessed 14/10/21];
6. Organization of American States (n.d.). ReefFix: An Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Ecosystem Services Valuation and Capacity Building Project for the Caribbean. Toward the Development of Haiti's System of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) - An Ecosystem Services Assessment for the Creation of Haiti's System of MPAs. Washington, D.C: Organization of American States. Source link [accessed 14/10/21];
7. Wiener, J (2013). Toward the Development of Haiti’s System of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs): An Ecosystem Services Assessment for the Creation of Haiti’s System of MPAs. ReefFix: An Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Ecosystem Services Valuation and Capacity Building Project for the Caribbean. Revision 1. Haiti: Fondation pour la Protection de la Biodiversité Marine (FoProBiM). Source link [accessed 14/10/21]; and
8. Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (2014). Annual Portfolio Overview July 2013 - September 2014: Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot. Arlington, Virginia: Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. Source link [accessed 14/10/21].
FoProBiM is working with local communities to support mangrove based apiculture within the 3Bays MPA
https://canari.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PISCES-case-study-FoProBIM-FINAL.pdf
Mangrove sapling
https://www.foprobim.org/
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the UNA global extension project funded by the British Academy.