Fund supports Caribbean conservation, livelihoods

THE CARIBBEAN Natural Resources Institute’s (CANARI’s) Caribbean Sea Innovation Fund (CarSIF) has successfully completed a funding cycle under the regional project, Powering Innovations in Civil Society and Enterprises for Sustainability in the Caribbean (PISCES).

Financed by the European Union, the fund supported 17 small and micro-grants totalling US$92,761 and was implemented by civil society organisations and nature-based small and micro-enterprises in The Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

“The CarSIF-supported projects increased public awareness of issues and threats in the coastal zone and facilitated coral reef restoration. They also strengthened sustainable coastal livelihoods in beekeeping, sea moss mariculture and smoked and salted fish production as part of an overall strategy to protect, restore and ensure the sustainable use of marine and coastal ecosystems for socioeconomic development and well-being,” said a release from CANARI.

The marine protected areas that benefited from these projects included Antigua and Barbuda’s North East Marine Management Area, the Three Bays National Marine Park and the Port Salut-Abacou Marine Protected Area in Haiti; Jamaica’s Portland Bight Protected Area and Bluefields Bay Special Fishery Conservation Area; the Pointe Sable Environmental Protection Area in Saint Lucia; and the Tobago Keys Marine Protected Area in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT SUPPORT

A unique dimension of the CarSIF facility is its support for capital improvement by small, nature-based enterprises in addition to introducing and developing enterprise skills.

“CarSIF’s support for sustainable livelihoods under the PISCES project filled an important niche,” noted Caribbean gender and entrepreneurship specialist Akosua Dardaine Edwards, who coordinated a mentorship and business coaching component for SMEs as part of the PISCES project.

“Efforts by nature-based community enterprises to balance livelihood opportunities for economic prosperity while maintaining the ecological integrity of the coast require special support. Many of these enterprises fall outside of traditional financing frameworks for non-profits and small businesses, but like all commercial ventures, they require investment and support to increase their productive capacity. We can have sustainable alternative coastal livelihoods in the Caribbean, but for this to happen, we need to put in place support structures for our community entrepreneurs,” Edwards added.

The PISCES project (2017-2021) was implemented by CANARI in partnership with the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation, the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations, the Environmental Awareness Group, the Fondation pour la Protection de la Biodiversité Marine, Sustainable Grenadines Inc, and the Saint Lucia National Trust. It contributed to addressing priority issues and needs in the Caribbean by enhancing marine and coastal biodiversity conservation, sustainable livelihoods and socio-economic development.

The Caribbean Sea Innovation Fund is a facility established by CANARI in 2019 to address priority needs and actions in the Caribbean on marine and coastal resources governance and management.