Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (LBS)
Many of the water pollutants that degrade the health of coral reefs and can undermine coral restoration efforts are the result of land-based human activities, such as coastal zone development, inadequate waste treatment, and agricultural runoff. According to a report by Trinidad & Tobago's Ministry of Planning & Development, more than 75 percent of of marine pollution in the Caribbean is due to land-based sources and activities.¹ For this reason, the regulation of land-based sectors (including EIAs for new development activities and sector-specific environmental regulations) should be considered an important component of regulatory schemes for protecting marine life.

Protocol concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (LBS Protocol)
The LBS Protocol, which entered into force in 2010, is one of three Cartagena Convention protocols. Countries that are Contracting Parties to the LBS Protocol have a legally-binding obligation to reduce adverse environmental and health-related impacts of land-based pollution in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR). [Fn 2 fact sheet UNEP/Carib. Envt Prog]

According to UNEP, the principal sources of point or direct sources of pollution that enters the Caribbean Sea are:²

• Domestic Sewage
• Solid Waste/Marine Litter
• Poor Agricultural Practices
• Oil refineries
• Sugar factories and distilleries
• Food processing
• Beverage manufacturing
• Pulp and paper manufacturing
• Chemical industries

Although the LBS Protocol is intended to address the significant impacts of terrestrial activities on marine ecosystems, mechanisms to control land-based pollutants are generally poorly integrated into national marine spatial planning (MSP) or marine protected area (MPA) systems—if they are integrated at all. Runoff, nutrients, sediments from land-based sources can only be controlled at the sources and do not respect the boundaries of MPAs and other conservation areas. For these reasons, they are highlighted and covered in this resource as an important area of concern.

Environmental Impact Assessment and the LBS Protocol
Article VII of the LBS Protocol addresses the role of Environmental Impact Assessment in the context of marine pollution. It states:

1. The Contracting Parties shall develop and adopt guidelines concerning environmental impact assessments, and review and update those guidelines as appropriate.
2. When a Contracting Party has reasonable grounds to believe that a planned land-based activity on its territory, or a planned modification to such an activity, which is subject to its regulatory control in accordance with its laws, is likely to cause substantial pollution of, or significant and harmful changes to, the Convention area, that Contracting Party shall, as far as practicable, review the potential effects of such activity on the Convention area, through means such as an environmental impact assessment.
3. Decisions by the competent government authorities with respect to land-based activities, referred to in paragraph 2 above, should take into account any such review.
4. Each Contracting Party shall, subject to its domestic law and regulations, seek the participation of affected persons in any review process conducted pursuant to paragraph 2 above, and, where practicable, publish or make available relevant information obtained in this review.

Annexes to the LBS Protocol
The LBS includes the following Annexes:

• Annex I established a list of land-based sources and activities and their associated contaminants of greatest concern to the marine environment of the Wider Caribbean;
• Annex II outlines and established the process for developing regional standards and practices for the prevention, reduction and control of the sources and activities identified in Annex I.
• Annex III established specific regional limitations for domestic sewage; and
• Annex IV requires each Contracting Party to develop plans, programs and other measures for the prevention, reduction and control of agricultural non-point sources, respectively.

The Text of the LBS Protocol is available at https://www.informea.org/en/node/81035/text.

1. Trinidad & Tobago Ministry of Planning & Development, Signing of Land Based Sources of Pollution Regional Activity Centre Agreement, Statements by The Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis, Available at https://www.planning.gov.tt/content/signing-land-based-sources-pollution-regional-activity-centre-agreement.

2. UNEP/Caribbean Environment Programme, Protocol concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (LBS Protocol) Fact sheet, Available at https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/28419/LBS-en.pdf.

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