Soufriere Marine Management Association

Terminal Report - Socioeconomic Monitoring in Soufriere Marine Management Area

2007

UNEP-Caribbean Environment Programme Regional Coordinating Unit

Soufriere is a small town located on the south west coast of St. Lucia. The area is an established tourist destination and sustains an important artisanal fishery and has numerous local recreational areas. The Soufriere Marine Management Area (SMMA) is a marine park established to protect and conserve marine resources particularly the well-developed fringing coral reefs which is important to both the fishing and tourism sectors. Geographically, part of the SMMA also falls within the designated Pitons Management Area which is the only World Heritage Site in St. Lucia. The SMMA was formally established by the Government of St. Lucia on July 1st, 1995 with technical assistance from the French following a series of stakeholder consultations and negotiations with an aim to conserve natural coastal and marine resources and facilitate sustainable use of the area. The Agreement to Manage the Soufriere Marine Management Area was reviewed in 1998 and again in 2003. In 2005, a ten year institutional review of the Soufriere Marine Management Association was conducted. Included in the review was a proposed socioeconomic monitoring to provide a baseline for future monitoring. Awareness of the social and economic factors affecting the SMMA will allow the management staff to tailor management strategies to suit the current socioeconomic climate. This information gleaned from socioeconomic monitoring will also be used to demonstrate to the public and to policy makers the importance of protecting the coastal and marine environment and garner support for revising and implementing new management policies.

FY2004 CRCP Project ID 1395; Project Title: International Coral Grants Program; Principal Investigator: Eileen Alicea