It has been established that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have many disadvantages arising from their size, including small populations, thin market size, a narrow resource base, vulnerability to extreme weather events, limited watersheds and threatened supplies of freshwater.

 

The Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA) on the Sustainable Development of SIDS recognizes that land and ecosystem degradation and the loss of critical goods and services such as biodiversity habitats and watersheds, are among the major long-term management issues in these countries due to a combination of factors including deforestation, urbanization, unsuitable farming practices and inappropriate land use policies. Thus, it is acknowledged that land degradation poses a serious threat to sustainable development of SIDS and weakens their ability to respond to shocks to their economy, society and environment. 

 

Against this background, the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) has secured a PDF-B grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for the implementation of a Project entitled: Preventing Land Degradation in Small Island Ecosystems in the Caribbean through Sustainable Land Management.   The Project is being executed jointly by CEHI, and the Office of Sustainable Development and Environment of the Organisation of American States (OAS) based in Washington, D.C.

 

Participating countries:

 

· Antigua and Barbuda

· Barbados

· Dominica

· Grenada

· Jamaica

· Saint Lucia

· St. Kitts and Nevis

· St. Vincent and the Grenadines

 

Project Objectives:

 

· Build local and regional capacity to support Sustainable Land Management (SLM)

· Develop pilot demonstration activities on SLM to address land degradation at the community level in the Participating Countries.

· Address the problems of land degradation, in particular deforestation and loss of ecosystem goods and services, especially endemic species.

· Promote the improvement of land management practices, institutional arrangements, policies and incentives aimed at mitigating land degradation and preserving the functioning of fragile and unique ecosystems of Participating Countries.

· Contribute to the harmonization of SLM priorities to combat desertification identified in the National Action Plans (NAPs) as well as in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) pursuant to the UN Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) respectively. 

About the Project

Contact: Sir Arthur Lewis Compound, The Morne, P.O. Box 1111, Castries, St. Lucia;

Email: slmprojectcoord@cehi.org.lc; Tel: 758 452-2501; Fax: 758 453-2721