Towards Community-based Tourism in Jamaican Fish Sanctuary Areas

Under the C-FISH Initiative’s Alternative Livelihood component, CARIBSAVE is looking to introduce, enhance and support community-based tourism in sanctuary areas. In order to achieve this, the Travel Foundation, a partner in the C-FISH Fund, undertook exploratory research regarding the market/demand and feasibility of creating bespoke, mainstream excursions that support responsible tourism initiatives at 3 fish sanctuaries in Jamaica. The information gathered from this study will help guide the direction and activities which CARIBSAVE will support in order to develop the community-based tourism. This component is very important for sanctuaries to provide sustainable financing mechanisms for sanctuary management (through C-FISH Fund), income generating activities through crafts and tours, and promote awareness of Jamaica, the sanctuaries and the need for conservation of fisheries.

”Trysion Walters from BREDS: Treasure Beach Foundation takes visitors on a tour of the Galleon, St. Elizabeth Fish Sanctuary, Jamaica. These tours are one way that tourism supports the community; fishers with appropriate training can become tour guides, thereby providing them with additional income, and reducing fishing pressure in the area. Photo by Simone Lee.”

”Visitors support sanctuaries not only through tours, but through purchasing of locally made crafts. Look out for C-FISH branded products in the near future! Photo by Simone Lee”

“Tourists can also support the local economy through purchasing fruits or agro-processed products such as jams and jellies from community members. In Bluefield’s Bay, the Westmoreland Organic Farmers Group offers a number of delicious products to sample! Photo by Brenda Barry”

”Welcome to Bluefields Bay! This is one of C-FISH grantee fish sanctuaries, and one that we are looking to support through community-based tourism. Bluefields is rich in culture and natural aesthetics. Would you be interested in a tour taking you to Accomopong Maroon Village, a cultural tour of Savanna-la-mar, and a visit to Bluefields Bay – an old pirate bay now turned fish sanctuary? Photo by Brenda Barry.”

“Feel like visiting a part of the Caribbean sea you probably won’t have in front of your hotel? Welcome to Galleon, St. Elizabeth fish sanctuary – one of the C-FISH grantee sites. Take a boat tour with local and knowledgeable fishermen who can show you the juvenile fish, starfish and rays in the sea grass; the wetland birds both resident and migratory living in the mangrove forests. Look out for turtles that nest on the nearby beach and dolphins that frequent the area. Would you be interested in a tour that went to here, the nearby Y.S. Falls, and an opportunity to have a Red Strip on the famous Pelican Bar on wooden stilts in the ocean? Photo by Simone Lee”

”Oracabessa Bay – one of the C-FISH grantee sites has a lot of potential for community-based tourism. Located on the north coast near other popular tourism sites, visitors can get the opportunity to experience the coral gardening, turtle watching and other conservation activities at this sanctuary. Would you be interested in a tour to Firefly – the historical home of playwright Noel Coward, with an impressive list of celebrity guests – to Oracabessa and James Bond Beach, Oracabessa Bay fish sanctuary and an arts and craft tour? Photo by Simone Lee.”

Visit the C-FISH website for more information on the Alternative Livelihood's programme and the broader C-FISH initiative being implement in five (5) countries across the Caribbean Region!

C-FISH: Training for Craft Artisans in the Bluefields Bay, Oracabessa Bay and Boscobel communities

The C-FISH Initiative and Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) have teamed up to help artisans overcome some of the challenges they face. Under the C-FISH Craft Programme, JBDC is implementing Product Development Training in the Bluefields Bay, Oracabessa Bay and Boscobel communities – some of our grantee sanctuary sites. The training is geared toward improving the quality of their product and design, as well as developing C-FISH branded products to be sold in partner retail outlets such as Sandals and Things Jamaica. Look out for these products soon – by purchasing C-FISH Branded products, part proceeds will go to the C-FISH Fund, a private-public partnership to assist management of sanctuaries in the Caribbean.

Vulnerability, Impact and Adaptation Analyses in the Caribbean (VIAAC)

Caribbean countries are particularly exposed to extreme climate-related events, which will be exacerbated by climate change.  

Individually, these countries have distinct and varying degrees of vulnerability due to their unique environmental, socio-economic and institutional challenges.  Since most of the countries currently struggle to deal with the negative effects of climate variability, developing pragmatic adaptation solutions to cope with present and future changes is an absolute imperative.

Vulnerability, impact and adaptation (VIA) analyses will therefore help countries in the region to better plan for climate change adaptation.  In this context, under the Regional Gateway for Technology Transfer and Climate Change Action in Latin America and the Caribbean (REGATTA) initiative implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the CARIBSAVE Partnership is conducting three [3] VIA analyses at the national and local scale in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and Haiti.

These VIA analyses are focused on water resources, agriculture, coastal areas and the tourism sector and provide an understanding of the countries’ and watersheds’ exposure to climatic events based on current climate variability and future change, such as hurricanes and sea level rise.  The VIA analyses also have an emphasis on evaluating the key ecosystem services that contribute to livelihoods in order to provide a clear understanding of their status and sensitivity to climate changes, as well as to identify opportunities to implement ecosystem-based adaptation options as part of an overall adaptation strategy.

The main outputs from this 12-month project will be (1) National and Watershed VIA documents; (2) Policy Briefs and (3) Community Adaptation Plans (CAPs) or Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPAs). The VIA documents will create a basis for the evaluation of actual and potential threats / risks to key sectors, activities and ecosystems in the countries and watershed communities; as well as identify corrective adaptive actions.

As decision support tools, these outputs will be developed based on the findings of the respective VIAs as their basis to support decision makers in determining where scarce resources should be targeted to address ‘high vulnerability’ areas..

The results will demonstrate, amongst other things, the importance of including non-climatic determinants of vulnerability to climate change of livelihoods and communities benefiting from ecosystem services in watershed areas. They will also improve the understanding of the main approaches to climate change vulnerability assessment and to what extent their findings are useful for implementing and facilitating adaptations at both the national and local levels.

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For more information, contact the Project Manager, Dr Donovan Campbell at donovan.campbell@caribsave.org.

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Employment Opportunity: Research Consortium Manager, ASSAR Project

The INTASAVE Partnership and CARIBSAVE, as a member of a University of Cape Town (UCT)-led consortium, are seeking an experienced and self-motivated individual for the position of Consortium Manger.

The African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) is a strategic initiative at UCT that coordinates and enhances research and teaching in climate and climate change across departments and faculties. From Jan 2014 to Dec 2018, ACDI will be leading a multi-partner, CAD$ 13.5 Million research project, ASSAR (Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions). ASSAR is a part of a larger multi-consortium research programme, CARIAA (Collaborative Adaptation Research in Africa and Asia) funded by IDRC and DFID.

The ASSAR project will be managed via a Consortium Management Unit (CMU) at ACDI, which will be responsible for coordination of cross-consortia activities: research, reporting, outputs, and interactions with external bodies such as the consortium advisory board and the CARIAA management team at IDRC.

For further information on the post, and instructions for submission of applications, kindly download the below Call for Applications. The details are also listed on the University of Cape Town's General Vacancies webpage here: http://www.uct.ac.za/about/intro/vacancies/external. Closing date for applications is Monday, February 10, 2014.

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CARIBSAVE Awards UWI-IGDS Scholarship

We are pleased to announce that Ms. Georgia Marks-Doman of Jamaica is the recipient of our most recent scholarship award of US$9,000.

Ms. Doman-Marks will complete her full-time post graduate studies in the area of Gender and Climate Change at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies of the UWI, Mona campus.  Her research project will examine the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of women in agriculture in rural Jamaica.  This work is both timely and very important at a time when the Caribbean region is struggling with issues of food security.  And whilst the issue of gender and climate change has always been important, it is becoming increasingly more visible and extremely relevant to CARIBSAVE’s work in the Caribbean and Africa regions, thus creating excellent opportunities for South-South learning and knowledge exchange of stories of vulnerability and resilience.

 This award is indicative of the long-standing relationship between CARIBSAVE and the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies and in keeping with our mutual goal to facilitate learning and capacity building processes through research on gender and climate change. This collaboration will therefore:

• Build capacity in the area of gender and development research;


• Contribute to public awareness in the area of gender and climate change; and


• Facilitate the discourse on climate change and policy interventions that recognise the importance of gender mainstreaming.

We wish to congratulate Ms. Marks-Doman and look forward to her professional and scientific contributions to this important field.

C-FISH: Alternative Livelihoods Programme and the Craft Fair Experience

Craft is not only a very important part of the culture and economic life of small communities, but is also a powerful medium for communicating messages of sustainability, community action and of course (coming soon) adaptation to climate change. 

CARIBSAVE, in partnership with community craft artisans from C-FISH beneficiary Fish Sanctuary communities participated in two Craft Fairs which were recently hosted in Kingston, Jamaica. CARIBSAVE and the artisans used the events to collect information from customers and craft producers to in order to enhance the C-FISH alternative livelihoods programme.

Thirty-two (32) artisans from three (3) areas were represented through craft products brought – Bluefields Bay fish sanctuary,  Oracabessa Bay and Sandals Boscobel fish sanctuaries, and Galleon, St. Elizabeth fish sanctuary (through the Treasure Beach Women’s Group).

The fairs also served as an opportunity for some of our partnered artisans to gain some valuable experience and exposure to the current market, networking (with other artisans and customers), assessing (of their group’s products in relation to current market) and opportunity for sales. All profits went back to artisans.

The community artisans were very appreciative and thankful for the experience, and representatives were able to return to their communities with feedback and suggestions for improvement and way forward. Market testing of current products also occurred during the craft fair to help guide product development and training workshops.

More information coming soon on this and the C-FISH website.

Greenhouse Gas Concentrations in Atmosphere Reach New Record

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Media Release from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO):

Geneva, 6 November 2013 - The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2012, continuing an upward and accelerating trend which is driving climate change and will shape the future of our planet for hundreds and thousands of years.

The World Meteorological Organization’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin shows that between 1990 and 2012 there was a 32% increase in radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate – because of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other heat-trapping long-lived gases such as methane and nitrous oxide.

Carbon dioxide, mainly from fossil fuel-related emissions, accounted for 80% of this increase. The atmospheric increase of CO2 from 2011 to 2012 was higher than its average growth rate over the past ten years, according to the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.

Since the start of the industrial era in 1750, the global average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased by 41%, methane by 160% and nitrous oxide by 20%.

What is happening in the atmosphere is one part of a much wider picture. Only about half of the CO2 emitted by human activities remains in the atmosphere, with the rest being absorbed in the biosphere and in the oceans.

“The observations from WMO’s extensive Global Atmosphere Watch network highlight yet again how heat-trapping gases from human activities have upset the natural balance of our atmosphere and are a major contribution to climate change,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud.

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its recent 5th Assessment Report stressed that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide have increased to levels unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years,” he said.

“As a result of this, our climate is changing, our weather is more extreme, ice sheets and glaciers are melting and sea levels are rising,” said Mr Jarraud.

“According to the IPCC, if we continue with ‘business as usual,’ global average temperatures may be 4.6 degrees higher by the end of the century than pre-industrial levels – and even higher in some parts of the world. This would have devastating consequences,” he said.

“Limiting climate change will require large and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. We need to act now, otherwise we will jeopardize the future of our children, grandchildren and many future generations,” said Mr Jarraud. “Time is not on our side,” he added.

The WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin reports on atmospheric concentrations – and not emissions - of greenhouse gases. Emissions represent what goes into the atmosphere. Concentrations represent what remains in the atmosphere after the complex system of interactions between the atmosphere, biosphere and the oceans.

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Carbon dioxide is the single most important greenhouse gas emitted by human activities such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. According to WMO’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, on the global scale, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reached 393.1 parts per million in 2012, or 141% of the pre-industrial level of 278 parts per million.

The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere increased 2.2 parts per million from 2011 to 2012, which is above the average 2.02 parts per million per year for the past 10 years, showing an accelerating trend.

Monthly observed concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere exceeded the symbolic 400 parts per million threshhold at several Global Atmosphere Watch stations in the Arctic during 2012.  During 2013 hourly and daily concentrations passed this threshold in other parts of the world, including at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, the oldest continuous atmospheric measurement station in the world which is widely regarded as a benchmark site in the Global Atmosphere Watch. Concentrations of CO2 are subject to seasonal and regional fluctuations. At  the current rate of increase, the global annual average CO2  concentration is set to cross the 400 parts per million threshold in 2015 or 2016.

CO2 lingers in the atmosphere for hundreds if not thousands of years and so will determine global mean surface warming by the late 21st century and beyond. Most aspects of climate change will persist for centuries even if emissions of CO2 are stopped immediately.

Methane (CH4)

Methane is the second most important long-lived greenhouse gas. Approximately 40% of methane is emitted into the atmosphere by natural sources (e.g., wetlands and termites), and about 60 % comes from human activities like cattle breeding, rice agriculture, fossil fuel exploitation, landfills and biomass burning.

Atmospheric methane reached a new high of about 1819 parts per billion (ppb) in 2012, or 260% of the pre-industrial level, due to increased emissions from anthropogenic sources. Since 2007, atmospheric methane has been increasing again after a temporary period of levelling-off.

In a special section on methane, the bulletin said that there has not yet been a measurable increase in Arctic methane due to melting of the permafrost and hydrates. It said that the increase in global average methane levels was rather associated with increased emissions in the tropical and mid-latitude Northern Hemisphere. Attribution of this increase to anthropogenic (human-influenced) or natural sources requires better coverage and more sophisticated observations in the atmosphere which are currently not available.

Nitrous oxide (N2O)

Nitrous oxide is emitted into the atmosphere from both natural (about 60%) and anthropogenic sources (approximately 40%), including oceans, soil, biomass burning, fertilizer use, and various industrial processes. Its atmospheric concentration in 2012 was about 325.1 parts per billion, which is 0.9 parts per billion above the previous year and 120% of the pre-industrial level.  Its impact on climate, over a 100-year period, is 298 times greater than equal emissions of carbon dioxide. It also plays an important role in the destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer which protects us from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun.

Other greenhouse gases

The total radiative forcing by all long-lived greenhouse gases in 2012 corresponds to equivalent CO2 concentration of 475.6 parts per million, compared to 473.0 parts per million in 2011. Other long-lived greenhouse gases include ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), as well as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) which are increasing at relatively rapid rates.

Notes for Editors

The WMO Global Atmosphere Watch Programme (www.wmo.int/gaw) coordinates systematic observations and analysis of greenhouse gases and other trace species. Fifty countries contributed data for the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. Measurement data are reported by participating countries and archived and distributed by the World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG) at the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Additional resources: Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change 5th Assessment Report
(The Physical Science Basis) http://www.climatechange2013.org/
WMO: The Global Climate 2001-2010:
A Decade of Climate Extremes http://library.wmo.int/pmb_ged/wmo_1119_en.pdf

Note to journalists:  For more information, please see www.ipcc.ch, www.wmo.int or www.unep.org, or contact: Clare Nullis at WMO on +41-79-709-1397 or cnullis@wmo.int

Original Media Release can be found here.

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