The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE government and the Inter-American Development Bank yesterday launched feasibility studies towards the implementation of a programme that will seek to protect the country’s coastline and coastal infrastructure from the impacts of climate change and natural disasters.

At a workshop held at the Ministry of Finance yesterday morning, officials from the Ministry of Environment and Housing, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and private sector engaged in discussions on the implementation of a “climate-risk resilient” Integrated Coastal Zone Management programme (ICZM), the result of the IDB’s partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Housing on coastal preservation in the country.

According to State Minister for Investments Khaalis Rolle, the ICZM programme will provide a “firm foundation” for the “development of an investment programme which will optimise the contribution of the coastal zone to the national economic planning process.”

“The technical cooperation between the government and the IDB will help us to fill the gaps in scientific baseline data, provide analyses and consensus in support of integrated coastal zone management, and build capacity among the network of institutions, many of which are represented here today, that will be responsible for the implementation of the ICZM policy and investment programme,” Mr Rolle said.

According to officials, various international studies, including some carried out by the IDB, showed that hurricanes and tropical storms were affecting the islands of The Bahamas more frequently as a result of climate variability and climate change.

Officials said those studies also suggested that the impact of rising sea levels would also be potentially catastrophic for the Bahamas, along with man-made threats such as pollution and coastal development.

According to Mr Rolle, in July 2013, Minister of Environment and Housing Kenred Dorsett expressed to the IDB an “interest in technical assistance” for a project for coastal zone management and studies that would “assist The Bahamas in mitigating the impact of climate change.

After several months of dialogue amongst the IDB, national experts, governmental and other individuals and agencies, the ICZM was formulated, and was approved as an operation and financed by the IDB in December 2013 in the form of a $650,000 grant.

According to IDB Bahamas representative Astrid Winter, the ICZM is a part of a “suite of projects” that the government has asked the IDB to support.

“As recently as December last year, the bank approved grant financing in an amount of $600,000 to develop an ecosystem based development plan for Andros island,” she said. “This is the first initiative of its type in The Bahamas and in the Caribbean. This development plan will ensure that the natural capital of Andros, its biodiversity and its ecosystem services, are mainstreamed in the design and implementation of development strategies with a view to ensuring the future well being of all Bahamians.

According to Mr Rolle, the ICZM programme was built upon the “Barbados experience,” but is being adapted to fit the “low-lying nature of our islands and the unique considerations we face in The Bahamas.”