NSU Currents Spring 2014 Newsletter - Volume XXIV, Issue 1

OC Researcher Aids Haiti in Creating Marine Protected Area Spring 2014 Issue, Volume XXIV, Number 1 The marine research team from left to right: Martine Mathieu, GIS specialist for the Centre National de l’Information Geo-Spatiale (CNIGS); John Knowles, The Nature Conservancy; Steve Schill, Ph.D., The Nature Conservancy; Miguel, boat captain and local fisherman; Rene, boat mechanic; Prevoir, local fisherman from Île à Vache; Dario Noel, UNOPS-TNC coordinator; Gwilym Rowlands, Ph.D., research scientist, NSU Benthic habitat map for Haiti and core conservation areas In 2013, OC alumni and NSU OC research scientist Gwilym Rowlands , Ph.D. ’13, conducted underwater surveys to produce seafloor habitat maps for the southern peninsula of Haiti. These detailed habitat and bathymetry maps were then used by The Nature Conservancy, the United Nations Environment Programme, and local stakeholders to develop the preliminary core conservation areas. The result of this research was the Haitian government adopting a degree defining marine and terrestrial protected areas. The decree by the Haitian Government defines the marine and terrestrial protected areas on the southern peninsula under the name Natural Protected Area of Managed Resources of Port- Salut/Aquin. The core conservation areas are recognized as natural systems that must be protected on a long-term basis to maintain biological diversity, while meeting the needs of the communities dependent on them. Protection is extended across more than 250 square kilometers of marine and terrestrial habitat in five core areas: the natural national park in Ile-a-Vache; the protected area of management of habitats and species of Grosse Caye, the humid zone of Aquin; the protected area of management of habitats and species of Olivier/Zanglais; the protected area of management of habitats and species of Fonds des Cayes; and the protected area of management of habitats and species of Pointe Abacou.