Land and Water

A national awareness campaign will be held in St.Vincent and the Grenadines next week to raise the consciousness of Vincentians on pertinent issues relating to land and water.{{more}}

Agatha Sector, a consultant in Natural Resource Management, told SEARCHLIGHT the programme is spearheaded by the Global Environment Facility-funded project Integrating Watershed Management (GEF-IWCAM).

Sector stated that it will start on Monday, August 24, 2009, with a national stakeholder’s meeting at the Ministry of Health and Environment Conference Room, Kingstown. This will be followed by four community consultations at 6p.m.: Greiggs Community Centre on Monday, August 24; Chateaubelair Resource Centre, Tuesday, August 25; Spring Village Primary School, Wednesday, August 26; and Vermont Community Centre, Thursday, August 27.

According to Sector, this phase of the project is to initiate dialogue with the stakeholders at the national and community levels, and this is being done in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme Sustainable Land Management Initiative and the Ministry of Health and Environment in St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

The project also seeks to promote not only participatory stakeholder discussions to improve the management of watersheds and coastal areas in an integrated manner, but also to engage communities living in important watershed areas.

“We want to hear from the communities living in watershed areas. We would like to know what they want and what they would like to see happen, as well as what they can do with support to better manage water and land,” said Sector, adding the public can initiate specific projects to be funded.

It’s the consultant’s wish that Vincentians better understand how to control development in order to prevent some of the landslides that take place across the country. She used the opportunity to draw reference to Alex Jack’s wall at Ratho Mill, which broke and caused a major landslide during the rainy season last September, and as recently as last week.

She also mentioned the importance of trees in absorbing water and preventing landslides.

Sector explained that deforestation reduces the land’s fertility and production.

She noted that when landslides take place, especially in the mountains, silt enters the water catchments and causes less production, and in this instance she made reference to the catchment at Cumberland. The coral reefs were also mentioned as important areas that can suffer damage from debris caused by landslides.

Andrew Simmons, a project consultant working with Sector, expressed that the main aim is to get people to come to the consultations and air their views and raise concerns.

He noted that the public is invited to attend all the meetings.(HN)