National Inception Workshops - BIOREACH Project

BIOREACH: Biodiversity Conservation and Agroecological Land Restoration in Productive Landscapes of Trinidad and Tobago

Project Preparation Grant (PPG) Inception Meetings

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nation’s (FAO/UN) project preparation team is leading the development of a Project Document (for the BIOREACH: Biodiversity Conservation and Agroecological Land Restoration in Productive Landscapes of Trinidad and Tobago project) in collaboration and consultation with relevant Agencies and stakeholders in Trinidad and Tobago. The outcome document is to be completed by March 2020, for submission to Global Environment Facility (GEF) for their endorsement.

In light of this, on October 8^th and 10^th 2019 the BIOREACH Project Inception Workshops were held at the Cara Suites in Claxton Bay, Trinidad, and at the Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort in Tobago.

The workshops were geared at creating awareness among national stakeholders about the Project, and getting their feedback on the design of the Project.

Participants were informed through presentations on different components of the Project (which seeks to address threats to our local biodiversity and productive landscapes from human encroachment, forest fires and unsustainable practices); and also participated in several group discussions, with the aim of assisting in the development of a Project proposal that when completed will result in a well-drafted proposal with the potential to achieve sustainable and effective results.

The presentations delivered during the Inception Workshops can be found below:

1. Project Components
2. Project Outline and Objectives
3. Socio-Environmental Analysis

Attendees at the Trinidad Workshop Listen to a Presentation Delivered by Mr. Asif Khan, PPG National Coordinator

Group Presentation during the Trinidad Leg of the PPG Inception Workshop

Dr. Claus Eckelmann, Lead Technical Officer - FAO/ UN Addressng Tobago Invitees

Group Discussions at the Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort in Tobago

Inception Meeting on the Sustainable Management Mechanism for POPs in the Caribbean Project

The Project Inception Technical Meeting for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded full-sized project 'Development and Implementation of a Sustainable Management Mechanism for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Caribbean' took place from the 15th to 17th September, 2015 at the Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

It was hosted by the regional project executing agency, the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer (BCRC-Caribbean) in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the GEF Project Implementing Agency.

Representatives from the 8 participating project countries across the region were in attendance alongside local attendees from key government ministries and agencies. Ms. Keima Gardiner, Environmental Engineering Specialist represented the Environmental Policy and Planning Division of the Ministry of Planning and Development at the meeting. There was also representation and presentations from the CARICOM Secretariat, the African, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) Group of States/Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA) Unit as well as the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Secretariat and the GEF.

At the Project Inception Technical Meeting, the critical elements of the project were discussed, inclusive of project component elements, execution schedules, the proposed organisational structure, division of finances, implementation timelines, monitoring, evaluation, auditing and the other facets of the project management system. The key actors in the project were also identified.

Participants at the meeting including Ms. Gardiner, Ministry of Planning and Development (front row, centre) and    Dr. Ahmad Khan, Director, BCRC-Caribbean (front row, first on the right)