THE PROJECT SEEKS TO MITIGATE POOR BIOPHYSICAL CONDITIONS CAUSED BY UNSUSTAINABLE LAND PRACTICES.

A new ecosystem management project in Fond St. Jacques, Soufriere, will work to improve sustainable land practices over the next few years.

The initiative is titled Integrating Water, Land, and Ecosystems Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (IWEco).

Aretha Darcheville, IWEco National Project Coordinator, said the project was initiated as a response to the vulnerability of small island states to climate change.

“IWEco is a project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and implemented through UN Environment. It is a regional program and its genesis stemmed from the fact that small island developing states are more affected by climate change than other areas in the globe. Hence, governments in the region are seeking to ensure that communities and ecosystems are resilient,” Ms. Darcheville said.

Dr. Donatian Gustave, Research Officer in the Forests and Lands Department, said government’s aim is to build such resilience by educating communities about the importance of conservation.

“What we really want to do is to get the partial cooperation of GEF, the Global Environment Facility, to empower communities to conserve. And with IWEco, the main function is to partner with them to empower communities to make the decisions,” he explained. 

The project ultimately seeks to improve the livelihoods of farmers, Ms. Darcheville added.

“The project in Saint Lucia its very targeted. It targets the upper Soufriere watershed which is really Fond Saint Jacques and environs, and it seeks to mitigate the poor biophysical conditions caused by unsustainable land practices that affect the livelihoods of farmers.”

The IWEco project started in October of 2017, and will end in October 2020.