DESPITE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES WE ARE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON HEALTHY AND VIBRANT ECOSYSTEMS.

In 1992 the United Nations declared May 22 as International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB), to celebrate the variety of living things, plants animals and microorganisms, which support our everyday lives. In a recent statement commemorating the 27th observance of IDB amidst the destructive COVID 19 pandemic, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity stated, “the global community is called to re-examine its relationship with the natural world, one thing is certain: despite all our technological advances we are completely dependent on healthy and vibrant ecosystems for our health, water, food, medicines, clothes, fuel, shelter and energy, just to name a few”.

This year, the Department of Sustainable Development will once again lead the observance of IDB 2020, under the internationally adopted theme “Our solutions are in nature”. This theme symbolises hope, solidarity and the importance of inter-agency collaboration. Minister with responsibility for Sustainable Development, Honourable Dr. Gale T.C. Rigobert described the observance of IDB as a timely opportunity to reflect on what nature means to us and to maximise on the innovative solutions at our disposal. “Our ancestors knew which plants could be used for healing, our scientists know what chemicals they contain and what techniques can be applied to process them, our entrepreneurs know how to market them and monetize their value. If we work together, there is much we can do to achieve the vision of, once again, living in harmony with nature.”

In January 2020, as part of continuing efforts to safeguard our country’s biodiversity, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the 2nd National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP2). This comprehensive plan takes a targeted approach to conservation, focusing on building awareness of biodiversity and assigning values to the many services which biodiversity provides. Key to the successful implementation of this plan, is stimulating and empowering stakeholders to undertake actions which improve ecosystem functions and stop actions which lead to biodiversity loss. In this regard, agriculturists including root crops and livestock farmers, fishers and aqua-culturists, are extremely important given their significant contribution to food security, reliance on healthy environments and supplies of biodiversity and because of the scale at which their networks can positively impact monitoring (including data collection) and conservation. They will be actively engaged in training, capacity building and implementation of these initiatives.

The Department has several activities planned to raise awareness of the value of our abundant biodiversity, including a Facebook Challenge and private sector engagement. As always, special activities will be designed to target and engage school children, this time through their various virtual learning platforms, as the youth will ultimately be the stewards of these valuable resources.

For more information on Saint Lucia’s observance of IDB 2020 please check out our Facebook page at Sustaining Saint Lucia 411 or call the Department of Sustainable Development at 724- 7134 or 722 -9252.