#SANJUAN, Puerto Rico (June 21, 2022) – At a critical time for economies and the ocean, The Nature Conservancy, the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association and the United Nations Environment Program have joined forces to create, for the first time in the Caribbean, a guide coral reef restoration program designed specifically for the tourism sector.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA), as well as the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) – which the CHTA founded in 1997 to assess the tourism industry’s readiness, needs and willingness to play a more proactive role in the management, protection and enhancement of coral reefs in the Caribbean – have partnered in a collaborative revolutionary. The guide was developed after months of surveys and discussions with stakeholders in the Caribbean tourism industry.
“TNC, UNEP, CHTA and CAST developed these new guidelines because we recognized that the tourism sector has a great opportunity to amplify coral conservation,” says Ximena Escovar-Fadul, Senior Associate, Planning and ocean mapping at TNC. “In response to the coral reef crisis, tourism businesses and consumers have turned to more sustainable travel options. Beyond this “do no harm” mindset, there is growing interest in travel activities that can proactively help nature. For example, travelers want to know how they can offset their carbon emissions or help restore the environments that make them happy when visiting a destination, such as coral reefs.
Coral reefs support economic stability and human well-being around the world, but the connection between these ecosystems and communities is particularly important and faces serious risks in the Caribbean today. Half of all livelihoods in the region depend on marine resources. To create the tourism-focused coral restoration guide, it was fundamental to gather feedback from people whose businesses or incomes depend on healthy coral reefs. Interviews, surveys and focus groups were conducted with stakeholders in over 20 Caribbean countries and territories, incorporating multiple tourism sub-sectors to capture a wide range of perspectives – including transportation and accommodation , food and drink, leisure at sea and on the beach, etc.
“Coral reefs and the important ecosystem services they provide are essential to economies and communities across the Caribbean. They generate over US$8 billion a year for the tourism industry, but they are under serious threat. It is estimated that more than half of the region’s living corals have disappeared in the past 50 years,” says Ileana Lopez, Regional Coordinator – Biodiversity and Ecosystems, UNEP Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. “The restoration of degraded coral reef ecosystems is only possible when political and financial support, scientific innovation and the active participation of local actors are combined.”
these new guidelines is that many tourism officials simply want to “give back” to nature and know that consumers are doing the same. Thus, industry can be a powerful ally in our work and, in fact, has great potential to accelerate coral conservation. Tourism companies often have facilities near reef sites that can accommodate restoration projects; nature enthusiasts on staff, such as diving instructors, who can serve as “conservation ambassadors”; communication tools, such as airport signage, which reach millions of people; and relationships with local governments and communities that can garner support for sustainable ocean use.CHTA President Nicola Madden-Greig believes that now is an especially important time for tourism to play a vital role in ocean conservation. She explains: “Tourism in the Caribbean and around the world has suffered a devastating downturn with the pandemic. But as the industry regains its footing, there is a key window of opportunity to attract a wider group of consumers and protect the resources on which tourism depends by providing sustainable travel options and engaging in meaningful conservation. . This is where the advice of our conservation partners becomes essential. Many tourism businesses take a sustainable approach and want to actively contribute to coral conservation, but they lack the technical expertise. Or they have completed a pilot reef restoration project but lack the capacity to scale up the work. As we continue to share scientific research and best practices, and address the conservation challenges facing the tourism sector, CHTA and CAST aim to transform travel in the Caribbean, so that it not only exists in harmony with our natural world, but also that they benefit from it.
CAST President, Jamaican hotelier Kyle Mais; the founding co-president of CAST and president of Grupo Puntacana in the Dominican Republic, Frank Rainieri; and Jake Kheel, vice president of Fundación Grupo Puntacana, a nonprofit entity of Grupo Puntacana and a regional pioneer in coral restoration, agreed that coral restoration is changing rapidly and requires an “everyone on the ground” approach. bridge” to intensify the much-needed recovery of the Caribbean coral reefs. They support A Guide to Coral Reef Restoration for the Tourism Sector as a crucial tool that shares experiences and best practices to enable the tourism industry to participate more actively in reef conservation and expand the capacity of the region to restore coral reefs.
