Abstract

The Nature Conservancy is directing efforts towards developing successful case studies of Marine Protected Area (MPA) Management. The Sandy Island/Oyster Bed MPA, located in Grenada, benefits from strong community support, yet lacks sufficient technical and financial resources for achieving conservation success. With input from the community, and through a strong partnership with the Government of Grenada and the Caribbean Regional Environmental Programme, the Conservancy is using its long established Conservation Area Planning methodology to identify priority conservation targets and priority threats. Through this well established scientific method, the Conservancy will help Park Managers devise a management plan that is easy to implement, demonstrate results and has the support of the community. Three key events which have occurred from June to October 2005 will be discussed. In June of 2005 a workshop (Parks in Peril Scorecard) was held in Carriacou to determine the status of the management of the park and to establish goals for the next year, a key to the success of this workshop was the involvement of stakeholder representatives. Several stakeholders volunteered their time to be trained in the AGRRA protocol and participated in the AGRRA surveys to determine the current status of the coral reef ecosystem surrounding the MPA. In October of 2005, the first of a series of workshops were held in Carriacou to obtain stakeholder involvement in the development of the management plan for the MPA. This workshop helped create the conservation targets of the MPA, assess their viability and determine their locations. These events were successful because of the strong stakeholder support and involvement. Each event will be discussed and a synopsis of the results presented.

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