At the Inter-governmental Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Convention in Kingston, Jamaica (February 2000), the Parties adopted the Scientific Committees’ recommendation for the timely development of a Marine Mammal Action Plan (MMAP) for the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR). The objectives of the MMAP are to ascertain the current status of marine mammals in the WCR, to identify where data are scarce, to make recommendations for future research, and to determine how best to apply and manage legislative and protective measures for maximum conservation benefit in the future. The MMAP aims to provide a framework for activities that require national and regional cooperation, on the basis of respect for the sovereign rights of the participating governments.