The economy in St. Kitts and Nevis (SKN) has undergone a radical transformation during the last fifteen years, which has changed the islands’ land use patterns and pressures on its ecosystems. Sugarcane long dominated the landscape, particularly on the island of St. Kitts, but as a result of unfavourable trading terms the industry was closed in July 2005. In an effort to diversify the economy, land use zoning has been modified to allow for non- agricultural uses of former sugarcane lands, such as construction of homes, tourism facilities, schools, commercial & industrial sites, etc. More broadly, SKN has transitioned rapidly towards a more service-oriented economy. This rapid growth comes with sustainable development challenges, as it relates to land use planning and sustainable use of natural resources.
The Global Environment Facility-funded Project, Improving Environmental Management through Sustainable Land Management in Saint Kitts and Nevis aims to support SKN to address the drivers of development which have adverse impacts on land and other natural resources as a result of competing demands and reorient all sectors of the economy towards sustainable resource use policies and practices, which together can provide economic opportunities for the country’s population while also sustaining ecosystem services and globally significant biodiversity. The Project Objective is to transform degraded forest landscapes areas into biodiversity and climate-friendly areas of sustainable agricultural/agroforestry production.
To achieve these primary goals, the project has three main Components:
• Component 1: Integrated and strengthened environmental planning and management on the islands of SKN to support island sustainability;
• Component 2: Mainstreaming Biodiversity (BD) conservation, Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and Common Carbon Metric (CCM) into key development and resource management sectors; and
• Component 3: Increased awareness and understanding of issues related to SLM, BD Conservation and Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA).
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) with the approval of the Government of SKN (GOSKN) has selected the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the Implementing Agency of the project; as well, the GOSKN has selected the International Union for Conservation of Nature Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (IUCN-ORMACC) as the Executing Agency.
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