COMMUNITY consultations will be held this week with residents of Garrand, Boguis, Desbarras and surrounding areas as the Iyanola Natural Resource Management to the Northeast Coast Project takes flight.
The overall goal of the project is to increase effective management and sustainable use of natural resources found on St. Lucia`s north east Ccoast’s to generate multiple benefits.
From today to Thursday September 10, 2015 meetings will be held with residents of the stakeholder communities, to provide an update and obtain feedback of the project’s plans and objectives and to solicit their support to ensure the successful execution of the project.
The north east coast of Saint Lucia is a significant area among the geographical regions, and is the only remaining frontier with a combination of rare and endemic flora and fauna species, landscapes of outstanding natural beauty and quality, ecosystems rich in bio-diversity and unique dry scrub forest ecosystems and pristine beaches.
This region is endowed with a variety of environmental resources which form an important socio-economic and cultural asset base of the island‘s national economy.
The prudent and judicious harnessing of those resources through sustainable land use planning and management can produce local economic benefits and contribute to positive environmental change and adaptation at the global scale.
The Iyanola Natural Resource Management project of the north east coast seeks to improve the effective management and sustainable use of the natural resource base of the north-east coast as part of the broader objective of contributing to global environmental security. This is to be achieved through linkages to the GEF prescribed focal areas of biodiversity, climate change and land degradation and related priorities of land use planning, safeguarding of key areas and continuity and sustainable replacements.
Community consultations kick-start on from 6:30 p.m. at the Garrand Community Centre and continues tomorrowon at the Boguis Primary School and Thursday from 6:00 p.m. at the Desbarras Community Centre.
The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology encourages residents in the various communities to attend the consultations on this very important project which will transform the northeast coast.