Kingston, 23 June: On Thursday, May 22, the International Day For Biological Diversity (IBD), the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) sub-programme at United Nations Environment Programme Caribbean Environment Programme (UNEP CEP) launched a photo competition entitled “Biodiversity Through Your Eyes” emphasizing the importance of biodiversity to livelihoods in islands.
The competition complements this year’s IBD theme of Island Biodiversity by raising awareness and celebrating the beauty, uniqueness and importance of our islands’ natural resources through images.
It is open to interested persons of all ages, whether professional or amateur. Photos will be judged on originality, beauty and ability to capture the theme. Entrants can submit their photos to rcu@cep.unep.org by July 31, 2014.
Winners will be announced on August 15, 2014. The winning photos will be featured in the 2015 UNEP CEP Calendar and future UNEP CEP publications with full credit given to the photographer. For further details on submission requirements visit the UNEP CEP website or http://www.cep.unep.org.
The United Nations has designated 2014 as the International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has stated “is an opportunity to appreciate the extraordinary resiliency and rich cultural heritage of the people of Small Island Developing States”.
According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, islands are not only home to 600 million people but also to numerous ecosystems, from mountain forests to wetlands, mangroves and coral reefs which are extremely important because they provide many of the resources that support economies and livelihoods. This year as the world celebrates Island Biodiversity, UNEP CEP wants to know what biodiversity looks like through your eyes.
For further information please contact, Miss Pietra Brown, United Nations Volunteer-Communications Officer, at UNEP CEP by telephone: 1(876)922-9267-9,Fax:1(876)922-9292, Email: pb@cep.unep.org.Also, feel free to visit the website at : http://www.cep.unep.org
About UNEP’s Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP):
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) in 1976 under the framework of its Regional Seas Programme. It was developed taking into consideration the importance and value of the Wider Caribbean Region’s fragile and vulnerable coastal and marine ecosystems, including an abundant and mainly endemic flora and fauna.
A Caribbean Action Plan was adopted by the Countries of the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) and that led to the development and adoption of the Cartagena Convention on 24 March 1983. This Convention is the first regionally binding treaty of its kind that seeks to protect and develop the marine environment of the WCR. Since its entry into force on 11 October 1986, 25 of the 30 WCR countries have become contracting parties.
The Convention is supported by three protocols:
- Protocol concerning Cooperation in combating Oil Spills, which entered into force on October 11, 1986;
- Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW), which entered into force on June 18, 2000;
- Protocol concerning Pollution from Land-based sources and activities (LBS), which entered into force on August 13, 2010.
In addition, each Protocol is served by a Regional Activity Centre. These centres are based in Curacao (Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Information and Training Center for the Wider Caribbean, RAC/REMPEITC) for the Oil Spills Protocol; in Guadeloupe (RAC/SPAW) for the SPAW Protocol and in Cuba (Centre of Engineering and Environmental Management of Coasts and Bays) and Trinidad & Tobago (Institute of Marine Affairs), both for the LBS Protocol.. As they endeavour to protect the Caribbean Sea and sustain our future, we look forward to their continued effort to combat marine pollution by facilitating the implementation of the Cartagena Convention and its Protocols in the Wider Caribbean Region.
The Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEP-CAR/RCU), established in 1986, serves as the Secretariat to the Cartagena Convention and is based in Kingston, Jamaica
To find out more about the UNEP CAR-RCU and the LBS Protocol, please visit the www.cep.unep.org
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