The Tribune

THE Bahamas is among six Caribbean countries participating in a regional workshop to evaluate a $6m investment by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) in the region.

The others are Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines and the evaluation process started with workshops in Haiti and the Dominican Republic last week.

Founded in 2000, the CEPF is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Dévelopement, Conservation International, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank.

In the Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot, CEPF has funded more than 75 projects dedicated to helping civil society organisations to conserve their environment and influence decisions that affect lives, livelihoods and ultimately, the global environment for the benefit of all.

“CEPF has achieved remarkable results through our support to local civil society groups to conserve their natural areas while also supporting the everyday needs of local people,” said Michele Zador, CEPF Grant Director for the Caribbean Island Biodiversity Hotspot. “Our preliminary results show that more than 20 sites in the Caribbean have improved nature conservation while providing more secure water supply, improved land management, reduced natural disaster and climate change risk, and equally important, increased income from livelihoods projects. We have shown how environmental protection, development, and income generation go closely hand-in-hand.”

The end of 2015 marks the completion of CEPF’s first five-year investment phase in Caribbean islands. The two-day stakeholder consultation to be held at the Hotel Four Seasons in Kingston, Jamaica, this week will enable CEPF and its partners to share and document the results and lessons learned from the first phase of implementation.

The programme will showcase the achievements made by project grantees in Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines; evaluate the CEPF investment and its contribution to achieving the strategic directions of the CEPF investment strategy in the Caribbean; celebrate the relationships built, partnerships established and the passion shown by people to reach their project goals and harness opportunities; explore opportunities for sustaining the gains made on the ground; and strengthen the network of learning in Haiti, and the wider Caribbean.