Prince Harry meets IKI project in Grenada
His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales exchanges ideas on environment and climate protection with IKI-funded project in Grenada.
Prince Harry is currently on official visit to the Caribbean, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen. On 28 November he attended activities regarding to environment and climate protection on the island of Grenada. In this context, the Prince met representatives of the project “Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategies “(ICCAS) and discussed with them the importance and vital role mangrove areas play for the protection and ecosystems of island states.
ICCAS is funded by the German Environment Ministry (BMUB) under the framework of its International Climate Initiative (IKI) and empowers community members to become stewards of the mangrove areas through community co-management.
With its pilot activities on Restoration and Community Co-Management of Mangroves (RECCOMM) the project aims to increase the health of the surrounding mangrove forests and ecosystems in order to reduce vulnerabilities to the adverse impacts of climate change. Mangroves are an essential part of Grenada’s ecosystem. Without them the island’s coast and beaches will disappear. Communities use and sell the mangrove trees for charcoal production used for cooking.
The project facilitates biological and socio-economic research and compilation of data, such as beach profiling, soil sampling, community surveys and the monitoring of mangrove seedlings and their growth rate within the allocated area. For instance in the north-east of the island community members planted over 1900 mangrove seedlings in a mangrove protected area in the past year.
Jobs are also created in the form of ecotourism. The government will provide vocational trainings on sustainable charcoal management, eco-tourism in the form of eco-trail development and education about the culture, flora, and fauna of the area. A Mangrove Boardwalk and a viewing platform will be built for bird watching activities and to act as an information center for visitors.
Finally a beekeeping programme began in April 2016 and a newly formed beekeeper’s association produced its first set of honey in October 2016. Prince Harry also received a bottle of original mangrove honey by community members.
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