Wise use of Caribbean wetlands for climate change mitigation and conservation of their ecosystem services
Land use changes in the Caribbean have led to ecosystem degradation as well as the loss of biological diversity and ecosystem services. This is also true of the Caribbean wetlands, which urgently require effective policies for sustainable use and management. The project is therefore carrying out vulnerability assessments for selected Ramsar Sites and providing regional governments with the additional know-how they need to avoid negative changes to their wetlands. The results of these assessments as well as the implementation of integrated coastal zone management and maritime spatial planning will lead to improvements in legislation and regulation. Planning and management tools will also be integrated to improve the management of Caribbean wetlands. The assessments of vulnerability to climate change provide examples than can also be applied to other Ramsar Sites. The same applies to the implementation of integrated coastal zone management, monitoring and other insights.
- Countries
- Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Suriname
- IKI funding
- 3,706,090.00 €
- Duration
- 03/2020 till 07/2026
- Status
- open
- Implementing organisation
- International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) - Switzerland
- Political Partner
-
- Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development - St Lucia
- Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Housing and the Environment - Antigua and Barbuda
- Ministry of Climate Resilience, The Environment, Forestry, Fisheries & Disaster Management - Grenada
- Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources - Dominican Republic
- Ministry of Land and Forestry Management - Suriname
- Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA) - Cuba
- Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Management - Belize
- Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change - Jamaica
- National Environmental and Planning Agency - Jamaica
State of implementation/results
- An updated project implementation plan was developed in collaboration with IUCN Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (ORMACC) and IUCN Water and Wetland Team. It was presented to the eleven countries participating in the project during the "Regional Workshop on Project Management, Monitoring, and Implementation", held in Grenada on 15 July 2024. Three ministers in the government of Grenada participated in the workshop's high-level opening session. All project countries endorsed the updated strategy. An advisory committee has been established to ensure continuous exchange and input from project countries regarding the effective implementation of the project.
- A Regional Training Course on "Wetland Ecosystem Services and Climate Change" took place in Grenada, 16-19 July 2024, attended by 30 participants representing all project countries. The training was led by the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in collaboration with Charles Sturt University. Another regional workshop on Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Marine Spatial Planning took place in Havana, Cuba, on 2-10 July 2023, with a high-level dialogue on the relevance of wetlands and the Ramsar Convention for other multilateral frameworks organised on 3 July 2023.
- National implementation activities, such as the application of the methodology to identify priority sites for climate change mitigation and adaptation, the methodology for the assessment of the status, ecosystem services and vulnerability of Caribbean wetlands, and the design of a monitoring program, will start from October 2024.
- A regional workshop on Policy and Governance will be held on 2-6 December 2024. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development of Saint Lucia has confirmed their offer to host the workshop in St Lucia. This workshop will provide a base for policy influencing activities at the national level.
Latest Update:
12/2024
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