On the occasion of the World Biodiversity Day on May 22nd, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) hosted a fair on Morne Fortune, Castries, and invited various organisations from all over Saint Lucia to create awareness and consciousness about the importance of local and global biodiversity.Under the theme "Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health", almost twenty exhibitors showed their projects and products and how biodiversity affects their work. The Caribbean Aqua-Terrest...

One of the crucial aspects to increase climate resiliency of a water utility is to reduce its water losses. The calculation is simple: with less water being lost in the network, water can be provided to consumers in higher quantity, quality and reliability, especially in times of low availability at the source.In a consultancy project implemented by CONSULAQUA through the CATS programme since November 2018, the Saint Lucian water utility WASCO is supported in, amongst others, improving network o...

On Friday, Apr 12th, 2019, the Fond St. Jacques Development Committee hosted a Business Simulation Exercise for two agro-processing businesses located in Fond St. Jacques, Soufriere: Jacq-Co Valley Products Ltd. and Rainforest Foods. The exercise was conducted by professionals of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC), namely by Dr. M. Lashley, Ms. Faye Henry, Ms. M.L. Catty and Mr. E. Ottley.The exercise, also referred to as a Micro Business Game, has been developed as “a highly i...

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-...

In November 2018, the CATS Programme launched a major intervention together with the Saint Lucian Water and Sewerage Company, Inc. (WASCO). The project on "Institutional and Organisational Strengthening of WASCO and Regional Water Utilities" will support WASCO in strengthening its internal managerial, organisational and technical capacity in order to effectively and efficiently reduce Non-Revenue-Water (NRW), i.e. physical and commercial loss of water. The consultancy is designed as a mission-ba...

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 Soufriere Primary School was on Wednesday April 26, 2017, officially adopted by the Caribbean Aqua- Terrestrial Solutions (CATS) and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) as a reef guardian school. This school  will become the lead  primary institution for championing environmental education in Dominica. CATS aims to strengthen its partnership with the school  and develop capacity to execute a wide range of  projects that will positively impact the  environment. This collaboration also ai...