The Ocean Program is building on the success of our efforts in Barbuda to support two more Blue Halo projects, designed to restore and protect coastal waters (see blog post here). In February 2015, Curacao’s Ministry of Health and Environment on behalf of Curacao and the Waitt Institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreeing to work together on Blue Halo Curacao. There is equal cause for celebration in Montserrat where a similar MOU was signed the prior week, launching Blue Halo Montserrat. Both island governments see the importance of ocean health for their long term economic and ecological success and have embarked upon this partnership to develop a new sustainable ocean policy.
The ELI Ocean Team is excited to be a part of all of these efforts by providing the legal analysis and drafting support that these Initiatives and the project partners need. The Blue Halo Initiatives are based on an approach ELI believes in—led by local stakeholders, communities, and governments, with expert scientific and policy support provided by project partners, including ELI and the Waitt Institute, Our experience to date has shown that this approach can make important progress on conserving marine areas for future generations, while supporting livelihoods today.