Followup to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment The Trinidad Experience

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Follow-up to the Millennium Ecosystem
AssessmentThe Trinidad Experience

• The Cropper Foundation
• 22 October 2007
• Stockholm, Sweden

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(No Transcript)
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Source The Nature Conservancy (TNC) 2005.
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The Northern Range of Trinidad
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Northern Range Importance

• Freshwater
• 80 of Trinidads freshwater supply
• Recreation
• Eco-tourism
• Food
• Wildmeat, plants
• Timber and non-timber forest products
• medicinal plants landscaping
• Education
• Scientific research
• endemic species endangered species

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Northern Range Driving Forces

• Land use and changes in land cover
• Residential developments (approved and
  unauthorized)
• Agriculture and agricultural squatting
• Logging (legal and illegal)
• Quarrying
• Commercial / industrial developments
• Wildlife/ fish harvesting
• Wastewater treatment (e.g sewage treatment
  plants)
• Fires
• Indirect
• Governance
• Economic
• Demographic Factors
• Increasing demand for recreation
• Culture and behavior
• Climate variability

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Assessment of Northern Range Responses

• Implementation of Policy Enforcement of
  Regulations
• Integrated Planning Co-ordination and
  Collaboration
• Governance Arrangements
• Public Responsibility and Public Education
• Financing Management of Natural Resources
• Research and Documentation
• Monitoring and Evaluation

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Main Northern Range Stakeholders

• Assessment Work
• Academic/ Research institution
• Public sector entities
• NGOs and CBOs
• Communities
• Private sector

• Outreach/Follow-up
• Communities
• Schools
• Public sector entities
• Academic/ Research institutions
• NGOs and CBOs
• Private Sector

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Northern Range Assessment Follow-up

• Public Sector
• key entities included on Advisory Committee
• statement of user needs prepared at start of
  project
• NR Report published as State of Environment
  Report for Trinidad and Tobago 2004
• official document laid in Parliament
• And actually used in Parliamentary debate
• Policy seminar in April 2005
• Inter-ministerial seminar on NR in March 2006
• hosted by Ministry of Environment
• Follow-up seminar in planning stage
• Northern Range findings being used in redraft of
  
• Hillside Planning Policy
• Forest Policy
• Quarry Policy

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Northern Range Assessment Follow-up

• The Public Education and outreach
• Programme for Environment and Resource Education
  (IERE)
• Collaborative effort Ministry of Education,
  Ministry of Environment, University of West
  Indies, the Environmental Management Authority,
  Caribbean Examination Council
• Target audiences
• Educational institutions secondary and tertiary
• lectures, tutorials, field trips, learning
  materials
• General public
• Public lecture by Dr. Cristian Samper on
  Biodiversity
• Radio and TV
• Brochures educational materials
• Other planned events
• Research
• Research seminar to be held in early 2008
• With the University of the West Indies

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Northern Range Assessment Follow-up

• Communities
• 2004 sustainable living project undertaken with
  one Northern Range community (UNDP funded)
• 2007 embarked on a project to transform hillside
  agriculture in the NR (IDB funding)
• be transformative
• develop methodologies and approaches
• transfer learning throughout the Caribbean
• education and outreach to communities
• Business and Industry
• specific products such as brochures and pamphlets
• presentations at Industry meetings

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Caribbean Sea Importance

• Tourism
• 13 of GDP of the Region
• employment
• Fisheries
• 504,913 jobs
• gtUS1 billion in exports
• 7 of total protein consumption in Caribbean

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Caribbean Sea Issues

• Semi-enclosed Sea
• 2.5 million km2
• Complex political structure
• 116 million people (within 100km of Sea)
• 22 independent states 9 Central and South
  America
• 17 island territories 4 colonial authorities
  USA, UK, France, Netherlands
• plus other outside interests eg. Japan, Korea

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Caribbean Sea Issues

• Mismatch
• Managerial capabilities of authorities in region
• Scale of important problems relating to
• Overfishing
• Pollution
• Unsustainable tourism
• International shipping
• Management
• currently at level of individual countries/
  political blocs
• BUT needed at level of entire ecosystem

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Caribbean Sea Follow-up (1)

• Intergovernmental bodies/ processes
• Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
• Caribbean Sea Commission
• United Nations Resolution 2006
• UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the
  Caribbean
• Caribbean Development and Co-operation Committee
  (CDCC)
• Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
• Sectoral programmes tourism industry
• UNEP ROLAC
• Presentation at the LAC Ministers of the
  Environment Meeting 2005 (MA and CARSEA)
• Reflected in communiqué of meeting need for
  uptake of MA findings
• Side event at LAC Ministers of the Environment
  Meeting 2007
• Caribbean Sea governments
• through intergovernmental processes
• Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem Project (CLME) -
  GEF funded

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Caribbean Sea Follow-up (2)

• Researchers
• Research seminar scheduled for January 2008 to
  map out a research agenda for the Caribbean Sea
• Marine Governance (MarGov) project
• Public Education
• Programme for Environment and Resource Education
• Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN)
• CARSEA products brochures and posters in
  English and Spanish
• Business and Industry
• Regional conference on climate change with CCCCC
  and South Chamber

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Other Assessment Ideas

• Assessment of Tobagos ecosystems
• Contribute to an assessment of the Biodiversity
  of Trinidad and Tobago (?)
• Assessment of the Vulnerability of Coastal
  Communities in Trinidad and Tobago to Sea Level
  Rise
• Assessment of community practices of oyster
  harvesting in the Caroni Swamp (Trinidad) and
  design of sustainable harvesting practices
• Assessment of the potential for aquaculture in
  the Caribbean

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Caribbean Assessments taking stock.

• Two MA SGAs generated many lessons and much
  information
• but to date, little sharing of lessons within and
  outside of the region
• Found ways of overcoming constraints funding,
  capacity, commitment
• strong leadership
• links to global MA
• Follow-up and outreach initiatives already
  well-underway
• fairly comprehensive
• target wide range of stakeholders
• but relatively slow progress in policy influence
• capacity, funding lack of interest of public
  entities
• Initiatives still only by assessment partners
• many ideas for new assessment work
• but limited focus on capacity building needs
  enhancement in the Region
• network exists, but needs ongoing support
• Overlap with larger sub-global prog goals and
  needs

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Lessons learned (1)

• From the menu of activities
• Appear to be all over the place
• But three main levels
• Policy
• Community
• Public
• Less emphasis on research and business and
  industry
• Not just about ad-hoc activities
• emphasis on being transformative
• Continue to be catalytic at TCF
• but have recognized that we have not done this
  very well

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Lesson learned (2)

• Conceptually aware of what is needed to follow-up
• But in trying to be holistic, opportunism
• Organizations that undertake work are not best
  placed to influence the change needed
• Tight walk
• Desire to influence change while not alienating
  those with whom we wish to work
• SGA experience of MA has lead to institutional
  building and leadership
• Community capacity building

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Characterization of needs

• Enhanced capacity to undertake assessment work in
  the Caribbean
• Scenarios
• GIS and remote sensing
• Valuation
• Indicators HWB,ES, Biodiversity
• Multi-scale approach
• Research for data and understanding
• Funding
• Policy influence and implementation
• Development and upkeep of database(s)
• Continued support of assessment networks
• More emphasis on outreach to private sector

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Thank you..