The Project Implementation Uni(PIU) of the Dominica Emergency Agriculture Livelihood and Climate Resilience Project (DEALCRP) begun a series of consultation to engage stakeholders on the GEF 7 Project: Leveraging Ecotourism for Biodiversity Protection.

According to head of the PIU, Kervin Stephenson, the project aims to coordinate and optimize Government’s approach to biodiversity and forest systems. It will assist Government in its efforts to conserve biodiversity as part of its pursuit to establish Dominica as the best eco-tourism destination.

He says that biodiversity is important to Dominica since about 60% of Dominica’s surface area is covered with forests. Forests, and especially forests within the National Parks, are vital for the protection of domestic water supplies, support to agriculture (e.g. by stabilizing soils and regulating water flow as well as providing shade and shelter and providing a habitat for pollinators and natural predators of agricultural pests), and are close to the region’s only remaining indigenous community (the Kalinago community).

The GEF 7 Project: Leveraging Ecotourism for Biodiversity Protection has three major outputs.

1. National Park demarcated(Improved National Park Management Plans adopted, Capacity built for National Park management, including gender inclusion, biodiversity conservation, and financial sustainability)

2. Waitukubuli National Trail(WNT) and feeder trails georeferenced including E-ticketing system for National Parks and WNT operational (Interpretation functions improved, capacity built for eco-tourism and trail management, including gender inclusion)

3. Increased income opportunities and benefits delivered to Kalinago women; Kalinago territory Management Plan improved; Capacity built for Kalinago entrepreneurship and traditional knowledge, including a Youth Empowerment program

The project is expected to cost in the region of USD 3.5 million.