The Blue finance primary activity is to design and implement impact investments for conservation of marine biodiversity. A suite of investments is being developed in the Eastern Caribbean where Blue finance is partnering with government, key actors and investors to ensure sustainable financing and efficient management for Marine Protected Areas. The Protected Areas are expected to restore the coastal biodiversity of the islands and become concrete partners of the green economic development of the countries.
In Antigua&Barbuda, Blue finance is partnering with key actors to implement a co-management agreement for all the Protected Areas (PAs) of Antigua&Barbuda. The agreement will cover over a network of 150km2 of coastal marine ecosystems and 30km2 of terrestrial ecosystems.
In Barbados, Blue finance is working with key actors to establish a co-management arrangement for the establishment of the Barbados Marine Management Area (40km2, 70% of coral reef habitats of Barbados).
In Martinique, Bf assists the establishment of the new Marine Management Area “Waliwa” in Ste Luce (12km2) and explores the co-management approach.
In St Kitts&Nevis Blue finance is partnering with key actors to implement a co-management agreement for the conservation of 100% of all the coastal ecosystems of the 2 islands (>200km2).
Blue finance is a collaborative initiative between the NGO Economics for Coral Reef Ecosystems (ECRE) and UN Environment (UNEP), through its Global Coral Reef Partnership. In the Caribbean, projects are being implemented by the Regional Activity Centre for the Protocol on Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife for the wider Caribbean (SPAW-RAC) of the Caribbean Environmental Programme (CEP) under the auspices of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). Other partners include GRID-Arendal, the Blue Solutions project, the French Initiative for Coral Reef (IFRECOR), the Insular Research Center and Environment Observatory (CRIOBE) and the Organisation of American States (OAS).