PORT OF SPAIN- TRINIDAD, MAY 31, 2024- The Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM) held meetings with regional stakeholders to discuss and receive technical guidance on soil and land management initiatives in the Caribbean region.
Three meetings were held from May 22- 24, 2024, at the Brix Hotel & Conference Centre. They included the 3rd meeting of the Sustainable Soil and Land Management Framework Group, the 2nd Session of the Caribbean Soil Lab Network (CarSOLAN) and the Caribbean Soil Support Group (SSG).
The overall objective of the meetings was to get written commitment from the main regional bodies which have mandates for the region’s natural resources and/or their use (e.g. soils, land, water resources, biodiversity, etc.) to mainstream and adapt soils and land management into their respective regional and sub-regional programs/frameworks.
Another of the objectives of the meeting was to update several of the Agencies ands and Groups of the Caribbean Community Regional Policy Frameworks, which all place priority on the integration of environmentally sound and climate-resilient measures with the view of strengthening and mainstreaming sustainable land management (SLM), sustainable soil management (SSM), and Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) principles into those policy instruments.
These meetings provide the opportunity for the PISLM to support cross agencies collaboration and to benefit from the experience and expertise of regional professionals, regional and international organizations such as the University of the West Indies, Caribbean Agriculture and Research Development Institute (CARDI) , Caribbean Community Secretariat (CARICOM), Directorates of Environment and Sustainable Development and Agriculture, the Agricultural Directorate of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Inter American Institute for Cooporation on Agriculture (IICA) and Civil Society; which helps the PISLM with the development and execution of SSM, SLM, and LDN projects.
The discussions also sought to chart the way forward for phase II of the SOILCARE project and further seek to enhance land and water productivity and improve farmers’ livelihoods in the participating countries, which have ratified the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and adopted LDN targets to be achieved by 2030. The project’s overall aim is to support countries combating land degradation, desertification and drought processes that are exacerbated by human pressures on limited land resources and climate change.
The Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management will continue to demonstrate and disseminate information on Sustainable Soils and Land Management, Land Degradation Neutrality actions, and climate-smart agricultural practices that strengthen resilience against natural disasters and climate change in eight (8) Caribbean countries.
