Pickersgill to address St Thomas climate change project

Kingston, Jamaica — Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Robert Pickersgill, will give an update today (Thursday, January 23) on the three-year climate change project in Cedar Valley, St Thomas, aimed at boosting the community’s resilience to climate change shocks.

The minister will be the guest speaker at the close-out ceremony for the project held at the Eden Gardens Wellness Resort and Spa, Lady Musgrave Road in Kingston.

The close-out ceremony will highlight the milestone achievements of the EHF/USAID Climate Change Project implemented in Cedar Valley, since April 2011. The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with cost share from the Environmental Health Foundation (EHF).

The Minister has lauded the achievements of the project, including the over 400 community members whose livelihoods were enhanced through their application of the climate change adaptive strategies developed by the project.

Cedar Valley, St Thomas, it is said, is particularly susceptible to climate change shocks.  Accordingly, the implementation of the project in the community was aimed at building resilience to such shocks, while improving the management of land, water and other natural resources in the community.

Partnering organisations are: Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA); St Thomas Parish Council; Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ); Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM); Meteorological Service of Jamaica; National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA); University of the West Indies (UWI);Climate Studies Group; St Thomas Environmental Protection Association (STEPA); Forestry Department; and the Social Development Commission (SDC).