Barbados is signatory to a number of international plans of action or declarations such as the Plan Of Action for Small Island Developing States, Barbados, 1994, San Jose Declaration, Costa Rica, 1996, Plan of Action for Sustainable Development of the Americas, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 1996 and Agenda 21, UN Programme of Action from Rio, Brazil. The initiatives from these Plans all seek to promote the establishment, enhancement and implementation of integrated approaches to water resources and coastal area management. For the coastal areas, this has included the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). It is clear that efforts or strategies to protect the marine environment from land-based activities are directly related to watershed management strategies and the need to integrate these activities is quite evident. In Barbados a large body of legislation and policies exist for water resources and coastal area management. However, historically sector specific approaches were used to develop the relevant legislation and policies as well as the institutional frameworks. It is therefore necessary to make adjustments, develop or enhance the legislation and policies to make it consistent with the relevant international agreements to which Barbados is a signatory and to develop the enabling institutional frameworks and capacities that will help promote and ensure co-ordination and integration between the sectors. Due to the commonality of the problems across the region, a regional approach to adjusting the legislation, policy, institutional framework and capacity building is recommended.