Integrated Ocean Governance, a regional Coordination Mechanism, and a Marine Data, Information and Knowledge Management Blueprint for the Wider Caribbean

Substantial amounts of data, information, technical reports, and other science and knowledge products on the marine environment of the Wider Caribbean have been created within the region and globally, both with and without the aim of supporting ocean governance or management processes, decision-making, and investments. 

Many of these efforts have been project-driven, “sectoral” and/or “ad hoc” in nature. They may have been undertaken in a non-standardized way, and/or are insufficiently known. They often lacked continuity, sustainability or uptake by decision-makers. Moreover, a variety of ocean and marine resources strategies and action programmes have been developed, but in many cases, these did not develop the mechanisms, and data collection processes, to systematically track their implementation.

Awareness about, and access to and use of existing science, data and information is fragmented among the multitude of ocean practitioners and stakeholders. Efforts may be duplicated while critical knowledge gaps persist. Existing platforms and products are not mapped out and linked together in a unified, integrated marine data, information and knowledge infrastructure, and remain insufficiently used and/or unknown to many potential users. They have therefore not been formally or sustainably embedded in regional mechanisms that would seek to support a more holistic and integrated, long-term ecosystem-based approach - even though such an approach will be critical to successfully embracing the complexity of the ocean - climate - biodiversity - sustainable development nexus. 

Such weaknesses in regional-level ocean governance processes, linked to the persistence of a “science-policy gap”, have been highlighted as important root causes of ongoing marine degradation in the Wider Caribbean. These must be urgently overcome to adequately tackle the Triple Planetary Crisis in a region that is highly dependent on its marine resources. 

Resulting from this acknowledgment, several priority actions were incorporated in the politically endorsed 10-year “CLME+ Strategic Action Programme” (CLME+ SAP, 2015-2025).  The core commitment of the SAP was the creation of a regional Coordination Mechanism for Integrated Ocean Governance (the regional “Ocean Coordination Mechanism” or “OCM”) that brings together Wider Caribbean countries and Intergovernmental Organizations with an oceans-relevant mandate. 

This OCM will now - with the financial support from (a.o.) the UNDP/GEF/UNOPS multi-stakeholder PROCARIBE+ Project - assist the Wider Caribbean region in developing and progressively putting into place, through wide-ranging partnerships, a solid and easily accessible "regional Marine Data, Information and Knowledge Management (MDI) Landscape” that is capable of underpinning the ocean governance, management and decision-making and coordination processes that are needed to advance the regional ocean agenda. 

To this effect, a detailed “Blueprint” for this regional MDI Landscape will be collaboratively developed, and submitted to the OCM for its formal adoption. Through collaborative action that engages the wider ocean community, and with the Blueprint as a broadly adopted reference, the OCM will then seek to sustainably harness and connect global, regional and national MDI efforts, and help mobilize the means to put in place the key missing elements.

For this purpose, collaboration will be pursued among a wide range of ocean practitioners, projects and initiatives.