Fact Sheet
U.S. Department of State and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Washington, DC
August 14, 2006

Purpose of Initiative
The White Water to Blue Water (WW2BW) Initiative promotes cross-sectoral approaches and multistakeholder cooperation to promote Integrated Watershed Management, Environmentally Sound Marine Transportation, Sustainable Tourism and Marine Ecosystem Management. Through its focus on watershed and marine ecosystem management, WW2BWhelps advance a broad range of international commitments including: : the Barbados Programme of Action, the Mauritius Strategy, the Montreal Declaration of the Global Program of Action, the Jakarta Mandate of the Convention on Biological Diversity, UNCLOS, the Cartagena Convention and its three protocols, the International Coral Reef Initiative, the FAO Compliance Agreement, the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, and the 2000 Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

Partners include:
Governments: Canada, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, United States, and governments of the Wider Caribbean Region.

International Organizations and Conventions: UN Environment Program's Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) and Global Program of Action (GPA), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and regional IO-Caribe program, World Bank, Comisi?n Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo (CCAD), Caribbean Community (CARICOM), International Maritime Organization (IMO), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Organization of American States (OAS), Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI)­­­, and World Conservation Union/IUCN

Civil Society: Conservation International, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund, World Resources Institute, The Nature Conservancy, UN Foundation, the Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, EcoLogic, Environmental Defense, and Caribbean Conservation Association.

Academia: The Universities of Miami, Rhode Island, Delaware, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and the West Indies, Florida International University, and Earth University.

Private Sector: The Gillette Company, Baccardi, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and the International Council of Cruise Lines.
Please visit www.ww2bw.org for a complete list of partners.

Partnership Targets
The objectives of White Water to Blue Water include:

• Strengthening national and regional institutional capacity to implement cross-sectoral watershed and marine ecosystem management.
• Facilitating closer cooperation and good governance within and among nations, regional agencies, and civil society in coastal and marine resource management, water management, health, environmental protection, agriculture, and urban planning.
• Engaging business partners in the major global growth sectors, such as tourism and shipping, to promote best business and environment practices, and to support regional activities in watershed and marine coastal management.

The Partnership Conference held March 21-26, 2004, co-sponsored by the Caribbean Community, CCAD, the U.N. Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the U.N. Environment Programme, and the United States Government. The conference drew more than 700 participants representing more than 30 countries. As a result of the conference more than 100 partnerships were launched, including:

• The Gillette Company, The Nature Conservancy, the United Nations Foundation joined forces to protect and restore wetlands around the world. Together they committed $750,000 for an inaugural international project to protect the Sian Ka'an wetland in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico;
• A partnership between UNEP and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish National Programs of Action (NPAs) with countries to reduce land-based marine pollution in the Wider Caribbean. Through this partnership, NOAA initiated NPAs in Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Costa Rica, Belize, and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, among other initiatives at the national and regional level. The success of the NOAA/GPA collaboration and the lessons learned of the NPA development process in partner countries were presented at the World Water Forum in Mexico City on March 2006, with additional results expected to be presented at the Second Intergovernmental Review of the GPA in Beijing on October 2006; .
• The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency announced a commitment of $1 million to fund established channels of environmental cooperation in the region; and
• The International Council of Cruise Lines and Conservation International announced a $1.1 million partnership for achieving environmentally sustainable cruise operations in the Wider Caribbean region.

Next Steps
WW2BW continues to evolve to support the partnership's growth and development. In the spring of 2006, the Steering Committee adopted a new governing structure to strengthen communication and improve efficiency. The new structure is coordinated by an Executive Committee and a Governing Council. The newly formed Executive Committee will hold its first meeting in November, 2006 in advance of the first meeting of the wider WW2BW Council and the Intergovernmental Meeting on the Action Plan for the Caribbean Environment Program. During the Executive Committee's meeting each of the four theme secretariats will present their objectives for the next phase of WW2BW.
In addition, the WW2BW partnership will present recent achievements at the October 16th Intergovernmental Review of the Global Program of Action, Beijing China. www.gpa.unep.org. Ultimately, the outcomes in the Caribbean may serve as a blueprint for future efforts in other areas.

Resources: Since the partnership was announced in 2002, the U.S. Government has pledged more than $3.5 million dollars toward its efforts. The State Department committed $2 million to WW2BW-related projects worldwide from 2002-2004 ($1.5 million of which directly targeted the Wider Caribbean Region), and committed another $300,000 in 2004-2006. In addition, USAID established a $1.5 million matching partnership with the UN Foundation to support the Meso-American Reef Alliance in Mexico and Central America. Other U.S. agencies are developing WW2BW-related projects for future fiscal years to complement their ongoing activities in the Wider Caribbean.

U.S. Government Primary Points of Contact
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Tom Laughlin (Phone: 202/482-6196; Email: Tom.Laughlin@noaa.gov)
Department of State: Dave Hermann (Phone: 202-647-3879; Email: hermanndc@state.gov)

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