Climate Solutions Episode 3: Nature-based solutions in Jamaica

In Episode 3 of Climate Solutions, we visit the Caribbean island of Jamaica to explore a project by CIF and the Inter-American Development Bank. Mafalda Duarte explains how the project’s use of nature-based solutions to promote climate adaptation and mitigation offers lessons for other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to apply in their efforts to adapt to and reverse trends including rising sea levels and declining fish stocks.

You can listen to the podcast here: 

What is the problem you were trying to solve?

Jamaica is a Small Island Developing State in the Caribbean and these states have much less influence on climate change than other nations but they have long been recognised as among the most vulnerable to its adverse effects. They are already experiencing significant impacts:

• Sea level rise has caused the loss of several low-lying Pacific islands.
• Coastal aquifers, which are often the primary source of freshwater for these islands, are facing decreased water quality because of salinisation, sea level rise and increased flooding from coastal storms.
• Changes to the ocean conditions have already led to declines in fisheries.

Jamaica is a country with around 3 million people located in the tropical hurricane belt region of the Atlantic Ocean and highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. If we go back to Hurricane Ivan in 2004, this resulted in damage and losses that amounted to 8% of Jamaica’s GDP. Climate change poses a significant threat to marine ecosystems, biodiversity, livelihoods and also the key sectors of the economy like agriculture, fisheries and tourism. In particular, the warmer ocean temperatures and ocean acidification are bleaching the coral reefs, which leads to loss of coral coverage. This impacts the fishing communities and marine ecosystems and there’s also the loss of these natural barriers to hurricanes and storms.

How did you solve it?

We have several projects in Jamaica but this one was focused on three things:

1. Mainstreaming climate adaptation measures into local and national development
   We supported vulnerability assessments and the development of plans on adaptation and disaster risk reduction for 15 local communities in the White River region.
2. Knowledge management and the sharing of best practices
   We supported relevant stakeholders to understand what climate adaptation is, what vulnerability assessments are, and what are the best practices that can be adopted by communities.
3. Establishing a climate finance mechanism
   In partnership with the Government of Jamaica, we established an innovative climate finance mechanism that would support climate resilience within these Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and establish an adaptation line of credit. Our partner, the Inter-American Development Bank, agreed with the Government of Jamaica the way that financing would be provided to approved financial institutions that had access to the communities that we wanted to target in rural areas. The institutions committed to providing support to the borrowers after the loans were provided.

The infrastructure investments supported rainwater harvesting systems including aquaponic systems and greenhouses to secure reliable access to water for businesses and people in the communities. This allowed agricultural businesses to increase their productivity and the quality of their products. We supported the restoration of forest lands.

One very interesting component was the fish sanctuary practices established in the White River sanctuary. We achieved a 1,700% increase in fish biomass within this protected area, a 147% increase in coral coverage, and a 45% increase in algae coverage. We spoke to Everton Simpson, a local fisherman, who had been catching and selling fish in this area for 40 years. He made the switch to coral gardening and he said the program enabled local fisherman like him to learn about the aquatic environment, the equipment and how to protect the marine ecosystem.

What lessons can we learn to apply to other projects?

As in previous episodes, a key lesson is the partnership with local communities rather than taking a top-down approach. Areas like the White River fish sanctuary are now protected by 15 trained local wardens, for example. Another lesson we saw in our first two episodes is the importance of partnering with local financial institutions to reach small businesses in communities and offer the products and rates that are appropriate for them.

The third big lesson is the importance of nature-based solutions. This is very important to SIDS and to Latin America and the Caribbean. This is because the region is endowed with very abundant natural resources, forests and oceans, but its countries are also facing increasing challenges of growing population, urbanisation and vulnerability to climate change. By protecting and restoring marine ecosystems and forests, nature-based solutions can improve livelihoods, protect against natural disasters, and provide communities with so many services. In fact, earlier this month a study in Nature indicated that protecting just 30% of the ocean would preserve 80% of the endangered marine species habitats, boost fish yields and combat climate change. There are also studies indicating that nature-based solutions could reach 30% of the world’s climate mitigation potential. For a lot of people, this will blow their minds!

You can read more about CIF’s work in Jamaica, including the coral gardening mentioned in the podcast, here.

Watch our video to learn more about coral gardening in Jamaica.

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