GEF funds projects in 23 Latin American and Caribbean countries

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) announced this week that it will finance projects in 23 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that address issues such as urban sustainability, groundwater management, biodiversity loss, climate change and land degradation.

The initiative is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its implementation will help the organization develop key work strategies in the region.

“FAO is working closely with its Member States to advance strategies for climate finance mobilization and promote innovative greenhouse optimization, soil and land mapping initiatives. We are supporting governments and communities to build capacities for integrated risk management to increase the resilience of livelihoods and value chains,” said Mario Lubetkin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean.

In South America, Chile will receive FAO support to strengthen ecosystem solutions and green infrastructure networks in four cities to promote biodiversity and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The project aims to improve practices in more than 1,325,000 hectares of landscapes, reduce more than 14,900 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and directly benefit nearly 732,000 people.

Sponsored | Article continues below

Central America, Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama will collaborate to scale up a source-to-sea approach to holistically manage inland resources and coastal ecosystems. The project will improve biodiversity, water security, the blue economy in 12 major watersheds, and large Caribbean and Pacific marine ecosystems surrounding these countries. The project aims to improve management of more than 1.8 million hectares of terrestrial and marine protected areas, restore 3 million hectares of wetlands, improve practices in more than 353,000 hectares of landscapes, and directly benefit 350,000 people.

In the Caribbean, 14 countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago) will improve sustainable land management in the second phase of the SOILCARE program. The project will help small island developing States manage land resources to build more productive and climate-resilient agri-food systems and livelihoods, supporting countries in achieving land degradation neutrality targets. The project aims to restore 28,000 hectares of agricultural land, improve the management of nearly 70,000 hectares of land, and directly benefit at least 6,900 farmers.