Caribbean SPAW Protocol

The SPAW Protocol is the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife of the Cartagena Convention, covering the Wider Caribbean Region. Adopted on 18 January 1990 in Kingston, it entered into force on 18 June 2000 and is administered by the UNEP Caribbean Environment Programme secretariat. Parties establish protected areas and list threatened and endangered flora and fauna in three annexes, with corresponding protection obligations. It is the only legally binding regional treaty for biodiversity protection in the Wider Caribbean, addressing habitat loss, species exploitation, and coastal development pressures alongside the Convention’s oil-spill and land-based-pollution protocols.