From Caribbean360

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Friday August 15, 2014, CMC – The St. Lucia-based Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission has started a series of meetings aimed at further developing and sustaining marine managed areas and their associated livelihoods in the sub-region.

The meetings, which began in St, Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday, are being facilitated through the Eastern Caribbean Marine Managed Areas Network (ECMMAN) project in collaboration with the German government and coordinated by The Nature Conservancy.

An OECS statement said that the meetings are to assess the status of the socio-economic and management-effectiveness of the targeted Marine Managed Areas of The Tobago Cays Marine Park and South Coast areas in St. Vincent, the Point Sables area in St. Lucia, The North East area in Antigua, specific areas of Barbuda and marine managed areas of interest in Grenada.

An official of the OECS Commission, Joan Norville, said the updates on the “Socio Economic and Management Effectiveness Assessments” will guide the implementation of selected projects to further preserve the targeted marine managed areas and associated livelihoods.

She told the meeting that enhanced marine managed areas contribute to sustained livelihoods, provision of community and family needs as well as economic development.

Meanwhile a Livelihoods Support Fund (LSF) has been established under the ECMMAN project.

“The LSF is a small grants facility aimed at assisting coastal communities to undertake actions in support of sustainable livelihood programmes and enterprises.

Priority will be given to livelihood activities that will impact positively on the identified marine managed areas,” the OECS Commission said.

It said the fund would also consider applications from individuals, small and micro-businesses, and groups and that the “small grants fund is to finance interventions that will successfully demonstrate innovative and sustainable livelihood opportunities within coastal communities, and impact positively on the coastal resources”.

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