SINT MAARTEN/CARIBBEAN SEA - Premios Verdes has recognized Caribbean Marine Conservation through Community Conservation at the Alligator Head Foundation Jamaica, the Caribbean Shark Coalition in the wider Caribbean, and the UNESCO IOC Ocean Decade Task Force as part of its regional platform highlighting social and environmental initiatives from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Premios Verdes is one of the leading social and environmental movements in Latin America and the Caribbean, identifying, connecting, and amplifying projects that contribute to sustainability, innovation, and measurable impact across the region. Each year, the platform highlights projects that address urgent social and environmental challenges and support new models for sustainable development.
The Caribbean Marine Conservation Initiative is included under the Marine Ecosystems category, which focuses on the conservation of oceans and the promotion of sustainable marine development. The recognition reflects nearly two decades of work led by Tadzio Bervoets to advance marine conservation, ocean governance, community-based fisheries, shark conservation, reef restoration, sustainable livelihoods, and blue economy financing across the Caribbean.
The Caribbean’s coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and coastal fisheries are facing severe ecological decline. Coastal communities, whose livelihoods, food security, cultural identity, and resilience are directly tied to the sea, carry the greatest burden of that loss. At the same time, many of the drivers of marine ecosystem degradation, including unsustainable development, extractive industries, and inequitable governance, continue to place pressure on the region’s coastal and marine resources.
Under Bervoets’ leadership, the Initiative advances a model of conservation grounded in community leadership, science, and justice. It reflects the understanding that marine conservation cannot be imposed on communities from the outside, and that effective ocean governance must ensure that the people who steward marine ecosystems are central to decision-making and benefit from conservation finance and sustainable blue economy opportunities.
The body of work recognized through Premios Verdes spans initiatives led by Bervoets across the Caribbean, including the founding and management of Marine Protected Areas, the establishment of the first shark sanctuaries in the Dutch Caribbean, the development of regional shark conservation initiatives through the Caribbean Shark Coalition, leadership of a USD 50 million regional conservation trust fund, the design of blue economy financing mechanisms across five countries, the chairing of the IOC UNESCO Ocean Decade Task Force for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the development of the first Caribbean Coral Emergency Response Plan.
In Jamaica, the Initiative is reflected through Bervoets’ current work with the Alligator Head Foundation in Port Antonio, where reef restoration, community fisheries, sustainable livelihoods, applied ocean science, and a Living Lab model are being integrated to support practical and locally rooted approaches to ocean governance.
“The future of Caribbean marine conservation depends on whether coastal communities are placed at the center of decision-making, restoration, sustainable livelihoods, and financing,” said Tadzio Bervoets. “This recognition by Premios Verdes helps bring visibility to a model of conservation that is rooted in the Caribbean, led by the realities of our communities, and focused on building a sovereign blue economy that serves the people of the region.”
The environmental impact of the Initiative includes protected reef ecosystems, legal sanctuaries for sharks and marine biodiversity, coral reef emergency response planning, and the deployment of innovative conservation finance tools across the Caribbean. Its social impact is equally central, with a focus on ensuring that coastal communities shape conservation decisions and that financial mechanisms deliver tangible benefits to the people who steward marine ecosystems.
Through this recognition, Premios Verdes amplifies a Caribbean-led approach to ocean conservation that connects ecosystem protection with community governance, sustainable livelihoods, and financial justice. The Initiative’s primary audience remains Caribbean coastal communities, alongside policymakers, funders, conservation organizations, academic institutions, and regional bodies whose decisions shape the conditions under which those communities live and work.
