The United States is playing a strong supporting role in the development of a regional alliance for the Wider Caribbean, including the Gulf of Mexico, known as the “White Water to Blue Water” (WW2BW) initiative, and hosted the first partnership conference in Miami, Florida, from March 21 to 26, 2004.

“White Water to Blue Water” (WW2BW), created at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, is designed to promote the practice of integrated watershed and marine ecosystem-based management in support of sustainable development, and to better the communication and collaboration between groups interested in the Wider Caribbean, such as governments, NGOs, corporations, international organizations, and universities.

Participants included the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the United Nations Program for the Environment (UNEP), the International Maritime Organization, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Central American Commission on Environment and Development, and Country Teams from each of the nations bordering on the Wider Caribbean area. Participants from Mexico included scientists, government officials, and researchers in the areas of science and the environment. Together the participants worked to identify existing programs and develop new partnerships that enhance integrated approaches in areas such as wastewater and sanitation, sustainable agricultural practices, integrated coastal management, sustainable tourism, and environmentally sound marine transportation in the Caribbean.

The results of this partnership in the Wider Caribbean may serve as a model for other programs on watershed and marine ecosystem-based management in Africa and the South Pacific.

To learn more about the WW2BW initiative, and the Miami Conference, go to www.ww2bw.org

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