SIRMM – Sustainable Island Resource Management Mechanism

The Environment Division commenced the four year Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project in 2008. This project is the Development and Implementation of a Sustainable Island Resource Management Mechanism in a Small Island Developing State (SIRMM) and the Environment Division is the National Executing Agency. The GEF contribution to the project will be USD 3 million over a period of 4 years. The SIRMM project is a GEF full size project which has been developed for implementation in Antigua and Barbuda and will form the basis for other full size projects within SIDS and the wider Caribbean region.

The project will provide the catalyst for Antigua and Barbuda to evolve and implement a Sustainable Island Resource Management approach to stabilize and maintain ecosystem functions. The overall goal of the project is to ensure the sustainability and maintenance of island ecosystem integrity, health, and function through integrated planning and management of the islands’ resources, thereby providing a basis for continued sustainable economic development.

The project will aim to achieve its goal and objectives through four main outcomes.

* Easy and reliable access to information for environmental management by all stakeholders through an Environment Information Management Advisory System
* A Sustainable Island Resource Management Plan
* Realignment of policy, legislation, and institutional capacity to support the SIRM plan
* Implementation of the SIRM Strategic Plan, including four on-the-ground demonstration projects

To implement these outcomes the Environment Division, throughout the starting year of 2008, will be working in coordination with key agencies including, but not exclusively, Fisheries, Forestry, National Parks, DCA, Barbuda Council, NODS, APUA, Surveys and Land Registry to develop of policies via equitable and effective partnerships between the agencies responsible for economic development and the environment and between public and private sectors.

Two of the four demo projects will commence in 2008:

* Demo 1: Sustainable land use practices for the conservation of soil and water resources and rehabilitation of the Body Ponds watershed on Antigua
* Demo 3: Integrated Planning and Management for the sustainable use of Codrington Lagoon (Barbuda)

Along with these demo projects the Environment Division with the relevant other bodies will also be working on the Environment Information Management Advisory System. This system will allow for easy and reliable access to information for environmental management by all stakeholders.

In 2008 a start will also be made on the Sustainable Island Resource Management Zoning Plan (SIRMZP) for Antigua and Barbuda, including Redonda and will feed into the structure of the Sustainable Island Resource Management Plan. This zoning plan will designate different categories of land and marine resource use and each category will have an associated set of activities and guidelines and regulations. This will be done through extensive stakeholder consultation on the islands particularly with the DCA and its members and with relevant Government agencies. This process will be carefully coordinated with the Physical Planning Act and the National Physical Development Plan.

This programme has been a major client for our activities in Antigua and Barbuda the past couple of years.