THE Centre for Marine Sciences (CMS) at the University of the West Indies, Mona has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Caribbean Planning for the Adaptation to Global Climate Change (CPACC) to facilitate the implementation and expansion of CPACC’s Coral Reef Monitoring project, which is ongoing in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

Dr George Warner, director of the CMS, and Leslie Walling, deputy Director of the CPACC project, signed the agreement recently at Mona as a means of also formalising the collaborative relationship that has developed between the two organisations. The CMS has assisted in developing the methodology used in the Coral Reef Monitoring component of the CPACC project and has analysed and stored data collected from the Bahamas, Belize and Jamaica during the pilot phase.

The overall objective of the CPACC project is to support Caribbean countries in preparing to cope with the adverse effects of global climate change. Project activities have focused on planning for adaptation to global climate change in vulnerable areas. This includes regional sea/climate data collection and management; impact and vulnerability studies; and the assessment of policy options through a series of regional activities and pilot studies.

The CMS will now provide technical and administrative support through training, documentation and data management to the project to facilitate its expansion to the countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago. As a member of the CPACC’s Policy Advisory Committee, the CMS will also give advice on matters concerning programme design, planning and project implementation.