Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, December 23, 2024 (UNESCO National Commission) – National Coordinator for the St. Mary’s Biosphere Reserve, Mrs. Telca Wallace, and the Federation’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO in Paris, Ambassador David P. Doyle, recently made presentations in two important UNESCO webinars, on the invitation of organizers. These webinars aimed to showcase how some small island developing states (SIDS) tackled biodiversity challenges given their limited institutional resources, as well as to inspire stakeholders and provide concrete insights into how global biodiversity goals can be achieved through collaborative and context-specific strategies.
The first webinar series entitled Building on COP16: from global goals to local action held on November 15, 2024, featured the role of the St. Kitts and Nevis biosphere reserve as a case-study in bridging the gap between international biodiversity commitments and on-the-ground conservation efforts in UNESCO-designated sites. Other cases were featured from the Latin America and the Caribbean region. Following the momentum of the COP16 negotiations and relying on the publication by the Nordic Council of Ministers “Local actions for the new Global Biodiversity Framework. How do we develop co-existence with nature through the UNESCO Biosphere Reserves?” the webinar set out to translate global biodiversity targets into actionable strategies tailored to local contexts.
A second UNESCO webinar held on December 10, 2024, addressed the distinctive SIDS challenges in Sustainable Waste Reduction in SIDS: Taking action in UNESCO-designated Sites and Protected Areas. During Mrs. Wallace’s presentation, focus was made on the use of single-use plastics, noting that core challenges tended to cluster around a lack of knowledge on the impact of indiscriminate plastic waste disposal on the environment, the extent of damage to the ecosystem and the threats posed to the tourism product of the Federation.
In early 2025, UNESCO will again be engaged with the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis in rolling out and funding a framework for eliminating of single-use plastic in the SMBR reserve. This will have wider implications across the twin-island state given the impending phased implementation of the government’s ban on the importation, sale, and distribution of single-use plastics, set to begin December 31, 2024.
Minister of Environment, Climate Action and Constituency Empowerment, Hon Dr Joyelle Clarke stated: “the ban on single-use plastics is a decisive step towards the government’s unwavering commitment to protecting the natural environment and towards fostering a sustainable future for the twin-island nation. The St. Mary’s biosphere Reserve will be an integral part of this exercise and will provide valuable UNESCO expertise in accomplishing our plastic-free sustainable ambitions.”
UNESCO experts are expected to be in St. Kitts and Nevis in the first quarter of 2025 to sensitize stakeholders on transforming the SMBR into a ‘plastic bottle-free’ environment, based on a model implemented in another small island, Sao Tome et Principe, via extensive consultations and on-site events.
Commenting on the Federation’s biodiversity efforts over the past year, Antonio Abreu, Director, Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences at UNESCO stated: “St Mary’s UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis is a living model that illustrates in concrete actions the importance of reconciling nature conservation and cultural identity with the socio-economic development of its communities. Under this inclusive vision that places the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity as a pillar of the well-being of its communities, the Biosphere Reserve is an inspiration for other island territories within the framework of UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves.”
SMBR coordinator and focal contact person, Telca Wallace, commented: “This initiative provides an opportunity to build capacity amongst all leading authorities who will be responsible for the implementation of the national single-use plastics ban and to use the St. Mary’s Biosphere reserve area as a test case that can be studied and evaluated. I feel privileged to lead the efforts in this regard.”
Coordinating the UNESCO interventions with Telca Wallace is H.E. Nerys Dockery, Secretary-General of the Federation’s National Commission for UNESCO, Ms Nerys Dockery, stated: “I am pleased that through this project, UNESCO can provide vital technical assistance to the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis that would inform and guide its national strategies for the implementation of the single-use plastics ban set for 2025. The project, highlights, once again, the importance of partnerships in advancing the vision to create a Sustainable Island State, in which the phasing out of the use of single-use plastics is an important and necessary part.”
Summarizing the heightened level of UNESCO interest in the biodiversity inroads at the SMBR, Ambassador David Doyle stated: “Tackling biodiversity loss in small island states increasingly requires an interconnected approach, embracing climate change, water security, food insecurity and health risks. With UNESCO expertise, St. Kitts and Nevis is bringing policy sectors together to address biodiversity damage while at the same time, generating opportunities for new small businesses, farmers and government agencies”.
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