What
The ECP-Caribbean project aims to increase the climate resilience of people and communities in Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname through improved marine and coastal ecosystem management.

Goal
The project will achieve this by transforming the management of coral reefs and coastal ecosystems to ensure that their biodiversity is protected and that the vital ecosystem services they provide, including protection of coastal communities and shorelines from erosion and impacts of tropical storms, are sustained.

Recent activities
This programme involves the participation of national governments, the private sector, civil society and society at large. Key activities to be carried out under this programme includes:

• Developing and implementing country-specific policies, frameworks and action plans for coral reef and coastal ecosystem protection and management;

• Undertaking scientific data collection and mapping of coral reef zones and coastal ecosystems for the development of platforms that will support decision-making for their conservation and protection;

• Supporting the implementation of sub-projects focused on the restoration, repopulation, rehabilitation and management of coral reefs and coastal ecosystems in Belize, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname;

• Providing training, capacity-building, and technical assistance for restoration, repopulation, rehabilitation and management of coral reefs and coastal ecosystems;

• Collaborating, cooperating, and building partnerships with other regional and global initiatives, and research and learning institutions, to support better ecosystem protection and management regionally and globally.

Benefits
The targeted beneficiaries are coastal and fishing communities in the Caribbean, includes marine protection and management agencies, universities, government ministries responsible for fisheries, fisherfolk organizations, and civil society organizations involved in coastal and marine protection. The expected results for this project include:

1. improved implementation and monitoring of nationally coordinated, gender-responsive frameworks. This is for the protecting, conserving and restoring biodiverse reef and coastal ecosystems’ health in targeted Caribbean countries

2. increased access to gender-responsive financing to build climate resilience and promote inclusive management of coral reefs and coastal ecosystems in targeted Caribbean countries

3. enhanced engagement of the private sector, civil society — including women’s rights organizations — and the general public to protect and restore climate-vulnerable coral reefs and coastal ecosystems in targeted Caribbean countries.

Relevant links and resources
https://w05.international.gc.ca/projectbrowser-banqueprojets/project-projet/details/P011284001

Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) – Empowering People to Act on Climate Change (caribbeanclimate.bz)