Land-management forum meets in Port of Spain this week

As the country prepares to host the fifth session of the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM) for Caricom states high-level forum next week, the Ministry of Planning and Development’s Environmental Policy and Planning Division’s (EPPD) is progressing with its mangrove rehabilitation project.

Recently, Dr David Persaud, environmental manager at the ministry, with a group of students, planted several mangrove plants in Caroni.

The project falls in line with proper land management and this year’s focus on PISLM’s theme.

PISLM is an inter-governmental convening system for Caribbean small-island developing states. The Forum of Ministers of Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean formed the PISLM partnership in 2003.

This year's PISLM session will be hosted, with support from the ministry, at the Brix Autograph Collection, Port of Spain, on Thursday and Friday. Discussions will focus on an examination of soil management, land degradation, combating desertification, sustainable land use and overall protection and conservation of the region’s environmental resources.

In a statement on Sunday, the ministry, which also has responsibility for TT's environmental resources, said it had a major role in the upcoming event.

It added: “TT’s hosting of the fifth session of the PISLM will play a key role in identifying and/or redefining priority actions as well as strengthening co-operation at national and sub-regional levels through the relevant instruments established in the framework of the PISLM.

The hosting of this high-level forum will also demonstrate to the regional and international communities TT’s commitment to supporting the region’s institutions implementing the UNCCD and co-operating with the countries of the region in addressing the problem of land degradation.

The event will feature regional ministers responsible for the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Planning and Development Minister Pennelope Beckles, along with ministers from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, St Lucia and the Bahamas, and representatives from Guyana, Suriname and St Kitts and Nevis, will attend.