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World Bank Document E-413 GEF Regional Project Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) Environmental Assessment Prepared by Paul Dulin, Environmental Specialist Public Disclosure Authorized I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1. The main goals of the regional MBRS project are to facilitate enhanced protection of vulnerable and unique marine and coastal ecosystems and to assist the countries of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico to strengthen and coordinate their national efforts for marine ecosystem conservation and sustainable use. The current draft Project Assistance Document (PAD) includes support for the following: (i) promote the conservation and sustainable use of the MBRS; (ii) expand environmental education and awareness; (iii) develop a regionally compatible ecosystem/biodiversity monitoring program and information system; and (iv) strengthen regional coordination. The MBRS project is envisioned as a 15- year program consisting of three project phases. The current project is proposed as the program's first five-year phase. Public Disclosure Authorized 2. The general MBRS project area stretches from Isla de Contoy Mexico south along the coasts of Belize and Guatemala, including the barrier reef and offshore islands, to the Gulf of Honduras, and then east along the North Coast of Honduras, including the Bay Islands, to the mouth of the Aguan River (see Map 1). The MBRS includes adjacent marine ecosystems and coastal watersheds in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. The inland boundaries of the study area vary by country and specific locality, but are generally intended to encompass those land and water resources within the coastal plains and adjacent coastal watersheds. However, as numerous land and resource utilization and conservation activities are carried out in areas that affect ecological functions of the MBRS upstream (including agricultural, industrial and residential/urban uses, wetlands and protected Public Disclosure Authorized areas), a broader interpretation is used to sufficiently encompass all "significant" threats and related underlying causes that could influence reef health. The ocean extension of the study area approximates the limits defined by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for the Mesoamerican Caribbean Reef EcoRegion (Jorge,1999). These limits vary from approximately 40 km off the northern coast of the State of Quintana Roo in Mexico, extending out some 240 km from the apex of the Gulf of Honduras, to approximately 50 km off the North Coast of Honduras at the mouth of the Aguan River and include the Bay Islands. 3. In compliance with Global Environmental Facility and World Bank policies, probable and potential positive and negative impacts of the proposed project should be assessed in order to ensure the viability of the project interventions. The project has been designated within the environmental risk category "B", implying potentially moderate risks Public Disclosure Authorized depending on the design of project components, for which mitigation measures are readily available and applicable to control negative environmental impacts. The present document responds to GEF and World Bank requirements in its analysis of the environmental and social viability of the project design. 4. As an integral part of preparation of the project design, a threat and root cause analysis (TRCA) was carried out to systematically ascertain the nature, location, magnitude and intermediate and root causes of current and potential problems affecting the ecological health of the MBRS.* The results of this study, including its assessment of transboundary threats, are used as the principal basis for the EA of the project, along with the analysis of the viability of project components included in the PAD as supported by relevant documentation. * Conservationand SustainableUse of the Meso-AmericanBarrier Reef System.Working Paper 1: Threatand RootCause Analysis. FAO InvestmentCentre, FAO/World Bank CooperativeProgramme, Rpt No. 00/008CP-CAM, 10 Feb 2000. II. EXISTING STATUS AND THREATS TO THE MBRS 5. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS), extending some 1,000 km from the Yucatan Peninsula to the Bay Islands of Honduras, includes the second longest barrier reef in the world. The MBRS is unique in the Western Hemisphere for its size, its array of reef types and the luxuriance of corals. The MBRS stabilizes and protects coastal landscapes, maintains coastal water quality, sustains species of commercial importance, serves as breeding and feeding grounds for marine mammals, reptiles, fish and invertebrates, and offers employment alternatives and incomes to approximately one million people living in coastal zones adjacent to the reefs. Associated with the coral reefs of the MBRS are extensive areas of relatively pristine coastal wetlands, lagoons, seagrass beds and mangrove forests that sustain exceptionally high biodiversity and provide critical habitat for threatened species. The outstanding ecological and cultural significance of the MBRS has resulted in the establishment of numerotusnational parks and equivalent reserves, with several of these being designated as World Heritage sites. In the last 20 years, tourism development oriented around the MBRS, especially cruise ship and diving operations, have dramatically increased foreign exchange contributions to the four nations gross national products. Other reports commissioned as part of the design phase for the MBRS project should be reviewed for more specific information concerning marine and coastal ecology, fisheries and the existence and management of marine and coastal protected areas. 6. In 1997, the Presidents of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras signed the Declaration of Tulum, which recognizes the interrelated nature of the MBRS and the importance to conserve and sustainably develop its biodiversity and natural resources, and proposes a regional strategy for its management. In June of 1999, in response to the Declaration of Tulum, the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD) approved the final draft of the MBRS Action Plan. This plan proposes a series of initiatives to be carried out at regional and national levels to facilitate and coordinate actions aimed at conservation and sustainable use of MBRS resources, including: improved legislation and regulatory control, land-use planning in coastal areas, protected areas management, sustainable tourism, institutional strengthening, and investigation and monitoring. A.Ecological Status of the MBRS 7. The ecological status and the extent of threats to the MBRS is restricted by the lack of information across a range of themes. The ecological composition and condition of the principal estuaries, mangroves and lagoons-which are the first-line repositories and buffers of contamination entering the MBRS-are poorly understood. The same situation applies to the ecological status of reefs and seagrass beds in proximity to principal drainage outlets to the MBRS. The location of spawning aggregations and migratory and reproduction habits are poorly known, as is the status of fish stocks in coastal and open-ocean waters of the MBRS, whether territorial or international. Similarly, data on industrial, artisanal and sport fisheries catches are disparate, discontinuous and of questionable validity, since in few cases do they include fishing locations. Also, the number of fishing boats of all sizes can only be estimated, since the permit/licensing process used in most countries is poorly controlled. Consequently, the status and tendencies of fisheries productivity is poorly understood, and only quantified in reduced harvests for selected species, especially lobster, conch, shrimp and selected finfish (especially grouper). 8. While general information is available on currents and winds in the MBRS, these are based on scanty sampling and several discontinuous studies. As currents and winds are determinants in the movement of sediments and organic and inorganic contaminants in the Caribbean, their correlation with water quality data is a critical need in order to determine the location, magnitude and impacts of contaminants entering the MBRS. Some of the more glaring gaps are those regarding water quality for principal drainages into rivers, bays, estuaries, lagoons and coastal wetlands that make up the MBRS. It is difficult to assess the static levels of contamination (baseline) to understand if the Western Caribbean is becoming more contaminated or less with time, if contamination levels are seasonal, and how these relate to the ecological health of varying elements of the MBRS (for example coral diseases and bleaching, fisheries productivity and recruitment, algal infestations). Again, the capacity of coastal wetland features, estuaries, lagoons and mangroves, as well as fringing, patch and barrier reefs, to absorb sediments and contaminants needs to be correlated with the volume of inputs of these, as can be associated with data on water quality. 9. There have been isolated water quality monitoring activities in coastal areas in Mexico and Belize, but these have restricted geographical range and are subject to interruptions depending on the availability of "soft" money from projects. Another program is proposed for the Bay Islands as part of the Environmental Management Program financed by the IDB. Also, while the general location of industries, ports, industrial agricultural areas, petroleum exploitation areas and terminals, aquaculture operations, solid waste disposal sites
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