Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

Approximately 22 species of terrestrial mammals are found in Grenada. Three of these are native — the lesser chapman’s murine opossum, the greater chapman murine opossum and the nine banded armadillo [ ] 114 Continuing trend of conservation Extensive work has been done on the policy, planning and legislative frameworks relating to biodiversity conservation in Grenada. A range of new policy and planning documents were elaborated on the national level and several new pieces of legislation were enacted. On the national level several bio- diversity related project were imple- mented during the reporting period. The Terrestrial Protected Areas estate increased from 1,765ha in 2000 to 2001ha in 2014, equivalent to 13.4 per cent increase. This occurred due to the legal declaration of the 236ha Annandale Forest Reserve in 2006. 47 Marine protected areas achieved major growth with the legalization of the Molinere-Beausejour MPA and the Woburn Clarkes court Bay MPA in 2001, totalling 498ha of sea space. The Sandy Island Oyster Bed MPA although actively managed is awaiting legal designation. This designation will add another 787ha to the existing MPA. This trend is expected to continue cognizant of the Grenada Declaration which targets effective conservation of at least 25 per cent of terrestrial and near shore marine areas by 2020 in accordance with Grenada’s declaration made at COP 8. In fact, the Ridge to Reef Pro- ject 49 plans to expand the MPA and TPA estates significantly by the end of 2019. At Cop 8 in Brazil, Grenada made a bold declaration to protect 25 per cent of its territorial and coastal and marine ecosystem. Subsequently, Grenada joined forces with seven other Caribbean countries under the Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) which seeks to expand and consolidate the Caribbean network of protected areas, both marine and terrestrial. The countries pledge to ef- fectively conserve 20 per cent of their resources by 2020. Grenada is now and active member of the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund which seeks to leverage resources for protected areas by developing sustainable finance mechanism for accessing long-term and reliable financing. During the period of study, several education and public awareness pro- jects were implemented. For example, the Reef Guardian Programme in- volved farmers, fisherfolk and school children on the imperatives for bio- diversity conservation. Many public sector initiated and donor-funded projects included elements of public education and awareness on biodiver- sity. In addition, several locally based non-governmental organizations have implemented public education and awareness programs on the areas for example of turtle watching, sus- tainable farming, sustainable fishing, pollution control and national clean- up campaigns. The programme on the lionfish is a case in point with the elaboration of the Grenada lionfish action plan. T he majority of Grenada’s biodiversity is found in its forests. The most comprehensive assessment of the country’s forest resources was documented in the 1940s, noting six forest communities: cloud forest; rain forests and lower montane rain forest; evergreen and semi-evergreen seasonal forest; deciduous forest and dry woodlands; littoral woodland; and mangrove forest. The major forest regions in Grenada are found at Mt. St Catherine, Grand Etang Forest Reserve, Mt. Hope/Claybony water catchment (private lands), Levera, Morne Delice, the Annandale watershed, and High North Forest Reserve in Carriacou. Mona Monkey in Grand Etang National Park David Kirsch on flickr Grenada