Supporting Land Degradation Neutrality in St. Kitts and Nevis

Land degradation in Saint Kitts and Nevis, is a critical challenge, which threatens food and water security, biodiversity, and climate resilience. The project “Supporting Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKN)” aims to avoid, reduce, and reverse land degradation by strengthening national capacity to plan and implement integrated, land use and management. It operationalizes the LDN framework through a ridge-to-reef (R2R) approach. The project is designed to help SKN meet its voluntary LDN target by 2030 (relative to 2015), using evidence-based planning, enhanced coordination, and scalable demonstration models.

The project design consists of four (4) components: (1) strengthening institutional coordination and integrating LDN into development planning, supported by establishing a Land Information and Monitoring System (LIMS) within the national Geographic Information Systems (GIS); (2) operationalizing LDN at watershed scale in Mansion, St. Paul, Monkey Hill, and New River, combining land potential analysis with participatory planning and interventions such as forest and riparian restoration, ghaut stabilization, and sustainable soil management; (3) strengthening sustainable land management (SLM)-based livelihoods by improving access to finance, mentoring micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), developing Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) value chains—especially for women and youth; and (4) delivering a gender-responsive communication and knowledge-sharing plan and an impact monitoring framework linked to LIMS to capture results and support scaling.

The project targets measurable global environmental benefits (GEB), including 264 hectares (ha) of forest restored, 1,351 ha under improved management, and 129,751 tCO2e in emission reductions, while directly benefiting 6,822 people (49.6% women).