Sustainable environmental
& social governance
and the protection of marine ecosystems

Systems analysis, research, and reporting

• Environmental law in Latin America
  and the Caribbean
• Integrated coastal zone management
• Environmental compliance & enforcement
• Marine protected areas
• Marine- and land-based sources
  of pollution

Overview
Tuckerman Reef began as a resource on the crisis facing coral reefs worldwide as a result of climate change, pollution, and other anthropogenic causes, as well as cureent approaches for restoring and rehabilitating coral reefs. The site now aims to provide more expansive information that encompasses an overview of the laws, policies, and key government and nongovernment actors that play a role in protecting marine and terrestrial ecosystems, while helping to advance environmentally and socially sustainable national development goals.

Regulation of coastal zone development in Latin America and the Caribbean
In many heavily populated coastal areas around the world, the concentration of high-impact, economically vital human activities in close proximity to fragile ecosystems poses significant governance challenges. These hotspots involve the convergence of a large variety of sectors and uses, stakeholders, government authorities, natural resources, impacts, and interrelationships within relatively small geographic areas.

Although planning and management disciplines such as Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) are being used in some parts of the world, the blueprints emerging from such tools are often imperfectly realized in practice. However, the combined impacts of climate change and a range of localized ecological stressors is increasingly providing the impetus for positive change.