$1.05 Billion Project to Strengthen Jamaica’s Resilience to Climate Change and Protect Livelihoods

A total of €6 million (J$1.05 billion) is being spent on a project designed to increase Jamaica’s resilience to the impact of climate change and reduce poverty by protecting livelihoods.

Dubbed ‘A Jamaican Path from Hills to Ocean’, the project is jointly funded with a grant from the European Union (EU) Global Climate Change Alliance (GCAA+) in the amount of €4.9 million (J$859,506,060) as well as a contribution from the Government of Jamaica of €1.1 million (J$192,950,340).

Speaking at the official launch of the project at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Regional Headquarters, Mona, on July 19, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, said environmental protection is critical to economic growth; therefore, building resilience to the impacts of climate change is paramount.

The project utilises an integrated and sustainable landscape management methodology in selected watershed management units (WMUs).

The targeted WMUs are Wagwater in St Mary, including Castleton Gardens; Rio Nuevo in St. Ann, and Rio Bueno/White River in St. Ann and Trelawny.

Wetland ecosystems in Falmouth, Trelawny, and the Mason River Protected Area in St. Ann and Clarendon, as well as seagrass beds in the Ocho Rios Marine Park Protected Area, in St Ann; the Hellshire Bay and Half Moon Bay – Portland Bight Protected Area in St. Catherine and Clarendon – are also targeted for integrated and sustainable coastal management interventions.

The project, which began in November 2020, is being implemented over five years.

It will directly benefit the communities and residents who live in or make their livelihood from resources in the targeted WMUs.

The communities and residents – particularly farmers and women – will benefit from capacity building in sustainable land management, including agroforestry and compatible agriculture, climate-resilient agricultural techniques and improved water management techniques.

“A project that touches these watersheds is directly tied to our future prosperity, and in that vein I thank all of the agencies that have worked tirelessly to bring us to this point. I will give whatever support you need from my office to ensure none of your targets are in question,” he said.

The Minister said it is his hope that Jamaica will be able to establish itself as a centre of excellence for environmental management, climate-change mitigation and climate-change adaptation.

“That means we have a lot of action to take, and establishing ourselves as a centre of excellence will require a lot of work. It’s terribly important because we have to lift our people out of poverty and if we don’t become a centre of excellence in environmental management and in the issues related to climate change, we will not lift our people out of poverty; we will be in the perpetual cycle of recovering from disasters,” he argued.

Senator Samuda said the project is particularly critical, given that Jamaica has committed to the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People.

The central goal of the initiative aims to protect at least 30 per cent of the world’s land and ocean by 2030. The 30×30 target is a global target that aims to halt the accelerating loss of species and protect vital ecosystems that are the source of economic security.

“We have just completed about 25 per cent with the recent declaration of [approximately] 78,000 hectares of the Cockpit Country. In our marine environment, we have much less to be proud of.

We have only protected about 13 per cent and the level of protection could be debated, so we have a lot of work to do in this regard. Now, this will take all of you lending your voices to this cause,” he said.

Deputy Director General, Directorate-General for International Partnerships, European Commission, Myriam Ferran, said the project is one piece of the overall contribution that the European Union is providing to the Government to fight climate change and protect the environment.

“We are extremely grateful for the excellent cooperation we have had with all the agencies involved,” she said.

Deputy Director General, External Cooperation, Management and Project Development, Planning Institute of Jamaica, Barbara Scott, said in November 2021, field work commenced for the rapid ecological assessment of the three targeted watershed management units.

“It provides a comprehensive and in-depth assessment of the socioeconomic aspect of the three watersheds, their biological and physical features as well as an assessment of the possible impact of climate change threats and other stressors on their ecosystems,” Ms. Scott shared, adding that it was conducted by the Department of Life Sciences, UWI, Mona.

She said the findings will be useful in informing actions and activities to be undertaken under the Project and the development of climate change and environmental policies nationally, among other things.

The executing agency of the Hills to Ocean Project is the Planning Institute of Jamaica, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA).