IN JANUARY 2020, THE CABINET OF MINISTERS APPROVED THE SECOND NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN.

The United Nations in 1992 declared May 22 the International Day for Biological Diversity, to celebrate the variety of living things, plants, animals and microorganisms that support everyday life. This year, the Department of Sustainable Development led the observance under the theme “Our Solutions are in Nature.”

In January 2020, as part of continuing efforts to safeguard Saint Lucia’s biodiversity, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the second National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. The plan takes a targeted approach to conservation, focusing on building awareness of biodiversity and assigning values to the many services that biodiversity provides.

Biodiversity has many benefits throughout the sectors including agriculture. Agriculturists and fishers are extremely important given their significant contribution to food security and the scale at which their networks can positively impact monitoring, data collection and conservation.