Project Detail

Persons with Disabilities Protecting the Marine Ecosystems in the Negril Environment Protection Area while Generating Sustainable Livelihoods

Sandy Cay is a sandy bank of approximately 1hectare,
once served as a buffer against storm surges for the
Bloody Bay area. During expedition divers have
unearthed evidence that the seabed is currently covered in
garbage, most of which includes plastic, resulting in
Coral death. This led to an imbalance in the marine
ecosystem and is proving to be unhealthy for marine life
to thrive, especially fish stock including the Parrot fish
which is crucial to the preservation of the coral reef.
Additionally, fisher folk are dependent on a healthy fish
stock for their livelihoods. The Negril EPA has a
population of 11,000 including some 200 persons with
varying disabilities who are normally marginalized.
There is now an urgent need to preserve the area and
community livelihoods. The project seeks to mitigate
threats to the marine ecosystems while generating
livelihood opportunities, especially for persons with
varying disabilities.

Loading map...

Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Cornwall Combined Disabilities Association Benevolent society

Country:

Jamaica

Area Of Work:

International Waters
Land Degradation

Operational Phase:

OP6 -Y4 (Jul 18 - Jun 19)

Grant Amount:

US$ 50,000.00

Co-Financing Cash:

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 57,900.00

Project Number:

JAM/SGP/OP6/Y4/CORE/IW/2019/01

Start Date:

7/2019

End Date:

8/2021

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

Discussions are ongoing with householders and business community regarding the introduction of reusable ego-friendly shopping bags to replace single use plastic, which is creating havoc in the already fragile ecosystem. The response has been very positive. The use of our products will impact the entire community as it provides an alternative to the norm of single use plastic bags. Planned reef cleanup is scheduled at regular intervals during the project period and will be carried out by six scuba divers who were trained and certified during a previous GEF/SGP Bio Boost Project in the same focal area. Business entities will benefit from branding as their various logos will be displayed on the bags. Through ongoing discussions with householders and the business community, stakeholders will develop an increased level of environmental awareness. A centralized billboard will be done to promote the product created, additionally outreach programs geared at schools, churches and other community organizations will be created and undertaken. The relevant media houses will also be contacted, including the community radio station to do ½ hour presentation to (to be repeated) over time. Arrangements will also be made for a newspaper ''The Western Observer'' to visit the community for a feature of project activities to reach a national and international audience.

Gender Focus

In the project focal area, opportunities for gainful employment for community members with varying disabilities is very limited. This project offers a unique opportunity for entrepreneurship through the production of re-usable eco-friendly shopping bags. The projects focus will set out to engage a ratio of sixty percent to forty percent of women and men with disability respectively. The planned activities that is, sessions on environmental awareness coastal and underwater cleanup will involve youths, persons with varying disabilities and varying stakeholders. Ten (10) females including persons with disabilities will be directly involved in the manufacturing of the eco-friendly bags.

Capacity - Building Component

Interviews are to be conducted with community members to assess skillset and ability to participate and make selection based on findings. A training schedule plan (hands-on) will be prepared and a Step- by- step guide on bag production will be used to guide the process. Through a partnership with the national training agency known as the HEART Trust NTA, a training schedule is to be developed with special focus on PWDs and at the end of training to provide participants with certification.

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

Some sixty (60) individuals including youths, with a focus on females and persons with varying disabilities will be engaged in various aspects of the project, all geared to protecting the fragile ecosystem while creating a unique income stream for persons with varying disabilities, who are otherwise marginalized by society. The project will include a public forum and will be held at a central location. Community members, other community-based organizations and members from various media houses will be in attendance. Participants in the project will begin with the construction and setup of a workshop to house the project. Video presentations, case studies and testimonials will be included to document and highlight each phase of the project. Timely quarterly reports will be presented and made available to all stakeholders throughout the project life. There will be replication of the program to include various project sites and networks, thereby providing more employment for the disabled including women and youth.

Policy Impact

The planned coastal cleanups will stem the flow of plastic into the marine ecosystem while cleaning the reef serves to protect it from plastic which currently clogs it. The product derived from the project will serve as a driver of economic production through the creation of new job opportunities for an otherwise marginalized group

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

The product derived from the project will serve as a driver of economic production through the creation of new job opportunities for an otherwise marginalized group. In the project focal area, opportunities for gainful employment for community members with varying disabilities is very limited. This project offers a unique opportunity for entrepreneurship through the production of re-usable eco-friendly shopping bags

Notable Community Participation

The project will directly involve 30, students through their school environmental clubs will be trained as environmental wardens for their communities in addition 10 scuba divers the will be undertaking ocean cleanup projects. They were trained in a previous GEF/SGP project.

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples

not applicable

Project Results

The SGP team communicated with the project manager who indicated that project activities were completed. He was then instructed to submit final report. However, after 60 days passed and no report was submitted, the SGP conducted a thorough site assessment and no

+ View more

Indicators

Empowerment

Number of women participated / involved in SGP project 10

Biophysical

Hectares of globally significant international water body or marine and coastal protected area sustainably managed or protected by SGP project 50

Biophysical

Hectares of land sustainably managed by project 10

Livehood

Total monetary value (US dollars) of ecosystem goods sustainably produced and providing benefit to project participants and/or community as a whole (in the biodiversity, international waters, and land degradation focal areas as appropriate) 91500

Livehood

Number of individuals (gender diaggregated) who have benefited* from SGP project 60

Back to search results

Countries

Regions

Project Snapshot

SGP Country office contact

Address