The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) worked with the Government of Grenada from 2019-2023 to execute a National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) of the tri-island state of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. This project is part of a global initiative on Supporting decision making and building capacity to support the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) through national ecosystem assessments.
Funding was through the Government of Germany, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, International Climate Initiative (IKI) with global project oversight by the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Grenada was the first Caribbean country and Small Island Developing State (SIDS) to be participating in this global initiative and will serve as an important pilot for the Caribbean region,
Key outputs of the 4-year project were as follows:
For a more detailed look at the project, please click here
Highlights:
Launch of reports
The Scoping Report which aimed to frame the Grenada National Ecosystem Assessment was published in April 2020 and after a three-year period, the Final Grenada National Ecosystem Assessment report was launched in October 2023. Further information on these reports can be found under ‘Publications’ and ‘Key activities and results’.
Participatory approach
At every stage of the NEA process, a wide range of stakeholders was involved, comprising of civil society, youth, government, regional institutions and private citizens. These stakeholders framed the assessment report by engaging in widespread scoping consultations across Grenada, and by contributing data and local knowledge (through the Second Order Draft stakeholder workshops and reviewing outputs of various NEA drafts). Local input was also collected to support the development of Chapter 4 (focused on valuation of genetic and ecosystem resources), and Chapter 6 (focused on scenarios). Additionally, an online survey on ‘Perception of Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services in Grenada’ was used to inform Chapters 3 (focused on ecosystems’ contribution to climate resilience) and Chapter 4.
Data collection
To support the development of the assessment report, information was collected from multiple sources including 28 organisations at the local, regional and international level, and from civil society, academia, government agencies, and the author network. To support easy access to this information, Zotero databases were created and housed over 900 references. In addition, geospatial data was collated to develop maps specifically for the NEA.
Author Network Developed
The Grenada NEA process supported maximum author engagement, with over 100 authors involved from over 10 countries. A final core team of 72 authors completed the NEA (14 Coordinating Lead Authors, 38 Lead Authors, 34 Contributing Authors and 7 Fellows) made up of a multidisciplinary team of authors comprising of economists, anthropologists, climate change specialists, biologists and other natural resource management experts.
Tools and Training Opportunities
CANARI supported capacity building of local stakeholders and authors through training on ecosystem valuation, scenarios development and on shooting effective cell-phone videos to capture local knowledge on Grenada’s ecosystems.
Publications:
Key results:
News and blogs:
Contact project manager, Dr. Natalie Boodram, at [email protected] for more information.
See related work under CANARI’s Forests, Livelihood and Governance Programme and Coastal and Marine Livelihoods and Governance Programme.