The CARICOM Secretariat has resolved to present to the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) by the end of the year, a CARICOM Biodiversity Strategy (CBS), which will guide the protection and sustainable use of the Community’s natural resources.
This effort, according to CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General, Directorate of Human and Social Development, Dr. Douglas Slater, is collective and timely to accelerate progress in achieving regional commitments under the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity.
Dr. Slater was at the time speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the Participatory Regional Workshop for development of the CARICOM Biodiversity Strategy at the Secretariat Headquarters in Georgetown, Guyana.
The CBS is an output under the Caribbean Hub sub-component of Phase II of the Programme for Capacity-Building related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.
The process was funded by the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund.
Dr. Slater said the natural ecosystems of the Region provided the people of the Community with essential goods and services such as food and nutrition, medicine, recreation, fuel, storm protection, and climate resilience. For those reasons, it was critical to “pause and take stock”.
