Fourteen percent of Cuba is affected by desertification, and land degradation processes leading to this phenomenon affect 76.8% of its productive land. This severe land degradation is affecting the livelihoods and the quality of life of a large number of Cubans and as well as causing deterioration in the structure and functional integrity of ecosystems throughout the landscape of this small island state. In view of this, the GoC is seeking to develop a GEF Country Programme Partnership (GEF-CPP) to strengthen the implementation of the ten year NPCDD ensuring this fully achieves it’s long term goals. The result would be that by 2015, the global environmental benefits of reduced land degradation and promotion of ecosystem integrity would have been captured alongside the fulfilment of the NCDDP targets for sustainable development and increased food security - contributing to Cuba’s attainment of Millennium Development Goals for poverty reduction, environmental sustainability. It will have two main objectives. The first would be to provide support for mainstreaming SLM principles into national, regional and local planning frameworks and building capacities. The second will be to implement site-specific interventions to demonstrate practices for the prevention of degradation and the conservation and rehabilitation of ecosystem integrity. The different projects in this GEF-CPP would be identified in detail in further preparation work, however each would have both capacity building and site-specific elements. The relative importance of these elements would vary between projects in the Programme, with the first ones placing more emphasis on capacity building and subsequent ones on site-specific interventions, once capacities have been raised. Collectively the interventions would include sites that cover the country’s priority watersheds, address the main types of land degradation in Cuba, and the challenges and barriers that need to be overcome to adopt SLM. The following intervention areas have been identified in Cuba’s three main regions: West: the southern plains of Pinar del Río and the plains of Habana Matanzas; Central: the north of Villa Clara and Sancti Santis: East: the Maisí Guantanamo coastal strip and Cauto watershed.

Project Details

GEF Project ID
2437
Country
Cuba
Implementing Agencies
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Environment Programme
Food and Agriculture Organization
Approval FY
1970
Status
Concept Approved
Region
Small Islands Developing States
Executing Agencies
Technical Cooperation Agency: FAO, Ministry of Science, Technology and Envrionment
GEF Period
GEF - 3
Project Type
PFD
Focal Areas
Funding Source
GEF Trust Fund

Financials

USD
Co-financing Total
79,437,499
GEF Project Grant
1,483,000
GEF Agency Fees
527,300

Timeline

Received by GEF
30 Jan 2004
Concept Approved
01 Nov 2005