THE Caribbean Sea is about 90 per cent enclosed by insular and continental landmasses. It has a unique biodiversity and highly fragile ecosystems, including the second largest coral reef system of the world. Its countries are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and variability including sea level rise, the El Nino phenomenon and the increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters caused by hurricanes, floods and droughts.

More than 230 million people live in the 25 independent states and 13 affiliated territories in the Caribbean basin.

For them, the protection and sustainable management of the Caribbean Sea are a vital necessity.

There are several sources of threats to the Caribbean Sea environment and population. Apart from the risks associated with the shipment of nuclear waste, some 63,000 annual ship calls generate an estimated 82,000 tons of garbage. About 1,500 fishing vessels operate in the area. Land based sources of pollution -notably sewage, chemicals and siltation - intensive tourism development, and large oil shipments also have negative environmental impacts and risks.

The Caribbean qualifies as an enclosed or semi-enclosed sea under Article 122 of the International Law of the Sea, since its entire area consists of Exclusive Economic Zones over which the insular and littoral states of the region exercise jurisdiction (even if all the maritime boundaries are not yet defined). The states of the Greater Caribbean are thus entitled under the Convention to cooperate in the management of the Sea's resources and to "coordinate the implementation of their rights and duties with respect to the protection and preservation of the marine environment", whether directly or through regional organisations such as the ACS.

In 1999, Caribbean countries proposed that the United Nations General Assembly declare the Caribbean Sea to be a "Special Area in the Context of Sustainable Development". The initiative was taken as part of the implementation of the SIDS (small island developing states) Programme of Action adopted at the 1994 global SIDS conference held in Barbados. Besides speaking to the issue of environmental protection, the U.N. declaration would provide the basis for a comprehensive sustainable development framework for the region covering both land and marine areas.

The resolution ran into opposition from major shipping powers concerned about its possible implications for their maritime rights of passage. A compromise resolution was adopted calling for an "integrated management approach" to the Caribbean Sea and which, as noted by Barbados, considerably watered down the original proposal.

Political leaders of the Greater Caribbean have now reaffirmed their intention, at the third ACS Summit last month, to continue to push for international recognition of the Caribbean Sea as a Special Area in the Context of Sustainable Development. This has assumed added urgency with the signing of the ACS Convention on Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Greater Caribbean. Strong and determined follow-up action by governments, NGOs and regional organisations (ACS, ECLAC Caribbean and CARICOM) will be necessary, focusing on the next United Nations General Assembly and on the World Summit on Sustainable Development scheduled for Johannesburg on September 2-4 this year.

The Caribbean Sea is, after all, our common patrimony, and we neglect it at our peril.