A four-day training workshop in Nursery Management and Forest Ecology was successfully completed in Dominica on August 10th, 2019. A total of ten people were trained including seven men and three women from the local communities.Training participantsThe training workshop was geared to support the reforestation of the Soufriere Scotts Head Watershed. The goal was to improve the general ecological health and services of the watershed to maintain productive ecosystems in the adjoining Soufriere Sco...

The Caribbean Aqua-Terrestrial Solutions (CATS) Programme works with a number of governmental agencies and groups in selected watersheds across three focal countries in the Eastern Caribbean to improve research and data collection for environmental management. Best practices and effective monitoring of environmental parameters is hinged on accurate and reliable data for timely decision making. The use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) is revolutionizing how these critical datasets and monitoring ...

The use of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), more commonly known as Drone technology, is now becoming more accepted as a tool to enhance monitoring and management of marine and terrestrial ecosystems. The Caribbean Aqua-Terrestrial Solutions (CATS) Programme recognises that this technology is vital to the management of marine protected areas of watersheds, and has therefore embarked on a regional capacity building technical support initiative in its partner island territories of Saint Lucia, Grenada...

The Caribbean Aqua-Terrestrial Solutions (CATS) Programme Phase II (Building Climate Resilience from the Ridge to the Reef), during the period of November 19th – 30th 2018, as part of a regional capacity building initiative, trained 18 ecosystems management officers in the operation and application of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS, "drone") technology, for environmental monitoring and management. The training also featured the participation of the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA)...

The CATS programme, together with multiple partners in Saint Lucia and Grenada, has engaged on utilisation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - commonly referred to as Drones - for environmental monitoring and management. The CATS programme's regional implementing partner CARPHA (Caribbean Public Health Agency) is already actively making use of a UAS system to support and guide interventions related to the CATS programme. The activities are planned to be further extended in the future, allowing CARPHA-...

The Iwokrama Forest is a 371'000 ha FSC-certified forest in the "Green Heart of Guyana" and is one of only four remaining intact rain forest systems in the world. It is located in the center of the Guyana Shield, a geological formation underlying the whole of Guyana, Suriname and French-Guyana as well as parts for Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. Under a joint mandate from the Government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama Forest, the Iwokrama International Centre (I...

On October 16th, 2018, the CATS programme took part in the Saint Lucian TV talk show "What's happening now - with Laura". Our CATS colleague Dr. Camille David, expert for coastal and marine systems, discussed with several stakeholders from the Soufriere Watershed in Saint Lucia, how sustainable management and development of a watershed can be achieved. Alongside Dr. David, important partners to the CATS programme were on the show, such as the GEF UNDP Small Grants Programme , IWEco, Fruitage Jeu...

The Guyana Ministry of Education published three fantastic videos informing about Climate Change and its hazards for the treasures of Guyana. These short films educate about the causes for climate change and the related negative effects for Guyana, its nature and its people. The three documentaries set out ways on how to help avoiding Climate Change and how to mitigate the induced problems. The production of these videos was supported by the German Government through the giz CATS program.

Iwokrama's Timber Harvesting Model.The BrandAll of Iwokrama’s business models are designed to follow international economic, social and environmental best practices and employ innovative governance systems involving various stakeholders. The Centre will use the results of the research and experience it acquired in Phase I of its operations in areas such as forest dynamics, pre-harvest and post-harvest inventories, community engagement, certification, facilities layout and logistics to help r...

From November 16 to 20, 2015, the CATS-Programme organized an Environmental Awareness and Communications Training in Saint Vincent. 20 participants from the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Transformation, Industry, Forestry & Fisheries, and other institutions participated at the one week training sessions. The team of trainers – Candice Ramessar and Carolyn Walcott – facilitated the sessions on environmental education and communication practices. The training was c...