which provides a complementary legal framework for the Action 

 Plan, was concluded in 1983 and entered into force in 1986. 

 Fifteen nations have ratified or acceded to the Convention 

 and its Protocol on combating oil spills. At the end of 

 1988, 33 states and territories were participating in the 

 Caribbean Environment Program. 



The Convention calls for cooperation in: controlling 

 marine pollution from ships, land-based and atmospheric sources, 

 man-made structures at sea, and activities involving exploration 

 and exploitation of the seabed; protecting and preserving rare 

 and fragile ecosystems and the habitat of depleted, threatened, 

 and endangered species; responding to emergencies caused by 

 pollution; assessing the potential impacts of proposed 

 activities on the environment and notifying any nation that 

 could be affected by such impacts; and cooperating in scientific 

 and technical matters, especially in the exchange of data 

 that may be pertinent to the objectives of the Convention. 

 The Convention also provides for concluding detailed agreements, 

 or Protocols, as needs arise, to implement or augment it. To 

 date, only one Protocol has been adopted. It provides for 

 cooperation among Contracting Parties in responding to oil 

 spill emergencies. 



Article 10 of the Convention calls upon Contracting 

 Parties to "take all appropriate measures to protect and 

 preserve rare or fragile ecosystems, as well as the habitat 

 of depleted, threatened, or endangered species" by establishing 

 protected areas. When the Convention was concluded in March 

 1983, a resolution was adopted calling upon the Parties to 

 develop a Protocol to provide protection for special areas 

 and wildlife in the wider Caribbean region. The resolution 

 encouraged "competent governmental and non-governmental organi- 

 zations to prepare proposals for submission to the first 

 meeting of the Contracting Parties after entry into force of 

 the Convention." 



The first meeting of the Contracting Parties was held 

 jointly with the Fourth Intergovernmental Meeting of the 

 Action Plan for the Caribbean Environment Program in Guadeloupe 

 on 26-28 October 1987. Prior to the meeting, a coalition of 

 non-governmental organizations, including Monitor International, 

 the Center for Environmental Education (now the Center for 

 Marine Conservation) , Fund for Animals, Friends of the United 

 Nations Environment Program, and Widecast-Antigua and Barbuda, 

 prepared and transmitted a draft Protocol on Specially Protected 

 Areas and Wildlife to the Contracting Parties for consideration 

 in accordance with the Resolution mentioned above. 



As noted in the Commission's previous Annual Report, the 

 Contracting Parties met in Guadeloupe, noted the draft pre- 

 pared by non-governmental organizations, and agreed that it 



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