GEF IWEco Inception Workshop: Perspective of Strategic Partners

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1 GEF IWEco Inception Workshop: Perspective of Strategic Partners UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health United Nations Think Tank on Water Located in Hamilton, ON, Canada Base funding from Canadian Government (Global Affairs Canada) Previous experience in Caribbean on contaminants in marine ecosystems, and management of Marine Protected Areas In-house expertise A broker for graduate student training, faculty research with partners from Canadian academic institutions Training in short course and on-line formats (e.g. Water Learning Centre with CATHALAC; Mangrove management course (on-line) with The Nature Conservancy)

2 Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystems Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (IWEco) A complex problem Trans-disciplinary in focus, trans-boundary issues Integration of science, management and policy 10 countries; each with unique challenges and solutions

3 A New Narrative Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6 Clean water and sanitation 13 Climate action 14 Life below water 15 Life on land 17 Partnerships for the goals Need to benchmark progress against the SDGs o Where are we now? o How far have we progressed? o What are the prospects for 2030?

4 What can research do for us? Identify: o Known unknowns o Unknown unknowns (sometimes) Monitor: o Are things getting better or worse, or remaining the same? o What is our progress relative to SDG targets? Validate: o Predictive models (i.e. do the models work?) o Technologies (i.e. do the technologies and engineering work?) o Management strategies (i.e. do the strategies work?)

5 Learn from previous projects Recently completed projects in Caribbean can provide us with insights on what approaches work, as well as lessons learned ; for example: o Barbados: Holetown waterfront improvement project o Jamaica: Collaboration between the Water Resources Authority and Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change for approvals of new developments o Puerto Rico: NOAA ridge-to-reef watershed management plan on Culebra Island: Project site at Playa Tamarindo. o GEF-IWCAM: Integrating Watersheds and Coastal Area Management opilot project in Fond D Or watershed, St. Lucia otoolkit for institutional, policy, and legislative improvements

6 Don t forget about remote, marginalized and Indigenous communities Remote and marginalized communities are the most vulnerable to the impacts of poor water quality, drought, flooding, poor sanitation and land degradation Need to enhance the capacity of remote and marginalized communities : Increase community understanding of water management principles Promote acceptance of community based water stewardship Develop community-based water quality monitoring programmes Design and deliver training programs that include both technical and Traditional Knowledge (TK) for delivery at the: o Community level o Schools o Train the trainers

7 What can UNU-INWEH do for IWEco? Developing small-scale wastewater treatment systems Natural wetlands Constructed treatment wetlands Mandeville, LA, USA Mezquital Valley, Mexico Grey water re-use; Treated wastewater re-use

8 What can UNU-INWEH do for IWEco? Monitoring contaminants in watersheds: o Pesticides Insecticides Herbicides Fungicides o Contaminants of wastewater origin (e.g. pharmaceuticals, personal care products) o Legacy contaminants (e.g. PCBs, DDT) Mandeville, LA, USA

9 What can UNU-INWEH do for IWEco? Mangrove management and restoration: o Research o Training Mandeville, LA, USA

10 What can UNU-INWEH do for IWEco? Models and Tools: Groundwater recharge Watershed management Flood forecasting Climate change projections Community resource and resilience assessment Spatial analysis (GIS) Remote sensing

11 What can UNU-INWEH do for IWEco? Contacts with Private Sector: Trojan UV Air Liquide Anaergia Anderson Water Island Water Technologies Scotiabank RBC Linkages to Canadian Capacity Building Programs Latin America and Caribbean Research Exchange Grants (LACREG) programme Emerging Leaders of the Americas Programme (ELAP)