Demonstrating the Development and Implementation of a Sustainable Island Resource Management Mechanism in a Small Island Developing State

The GEF Alternative will promote integrated ecosystem management, with special emphasis on the conservation of globally significant biodiversity and prevention of land degradation in the islands of Antigua and Barbuda. GEF resources will be used to incorporate integrated ecosystem management objectives, principles, techniques and practices into government policies for land and marine development. The integration of the GEF support into government approaches will promote Island-wide economic development in conjunction with sustainable management of local natural resources and securing global environmental benefits. The project through the sustainable management of tourism, coastal fisheries, wetlands and mangrove resources, sustainable community agriculture and forestry projects will maintain ecosystem processes and services so that they continue to create and preserve soils, store and distribute water and regulate coastal and atmospheric conditions.