Integrating Watershed and Coastal Area Management (IWCAM) in the Small Island Developing States of the Caribbean

The overall objective of the proposed project will be to assist participating countries in improving their watershed and coastal zone management practices in support of sustainable development. The project will include the following components addressing areas of priority concern: coastal area management and biodiversity; tourism development; protection of water supplies; land based sources of pollution; climate change. Activities undertaken during the full project will include, amongst others, demonstrations in the fields of marine pollution reduction and waste management, land use, soil degradation and watershed management. Addressing water resources management and conservation under conditions of stress may include pilot projects demonstrating innovative approaches to: water storage, distribution, treatment and re-use, and to conservation of scarce resources in high demand sectors such as tourism. The project may also include pilot activities addressing information, management, policy and economic failures where these are identified as critical elements in the cusal relationships between environmental issues and problems and the societal causes of such problems. The objective of the PDF-B work is to develop a fully costed project brief and to establish an agreed institutional framework for execution of the full project activities.March 2004 - Work Program InclusionThe full project is the result of a commitment by the 13 participatory SIDS of the Caribbean Region to resolve the concerns regarding the inadequate and inappropriate approaches to sustainable development and natural resource management. Specifically the countries would wish to seek support in the development of a more integrated approach to coastal and watershed issues, processes and policy development. The direct causal linkages between the threats to the coastal and watershed environment and socio-economic/political issues are recognised. The need to address these linkages and the root causes in a sustainable manner at the socio-economic and policy level is paramount.By implementing the project activities the country of the region will significantly contribute to the protection of globally-significant biodiversity within the Caribbean region through the long-term sustainable management of biological resources and ecosystems, while mitigating or eliminating regional transboundary threats to those resources and ecosystems.