Global Environment Facility to finance projects in 23 Latin American and Caribbean countries

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

The initiatives are supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and their implementation will contribute to the development of the organization's key working strategies in the region. 

"FAO is working closely with our member countries to promote a climate finance mobilization strategy for innovative greenhouse optimization, soil and land mapping initiatives. We are supporting governments and communities in building capacity for integrated risk management to improving the resilience of livelihoods and value chains," said FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mario Lubetkin.

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

Central America, Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama will collaborate to scale up a source-to-sea management approach to manage inland resources and coastal ecosystems comprehensively. The project will improve biodiversity, water security, the blue economy of 12 major watersheds, and the large Caribbean and Pacific marine ecosystems that flank the countries. The project aims to improve the management of more than 1.8 million hectares of terrestrial and marine protected areas, restore 300 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 initiative. The project will help Small Island Developing States manage land resources for more productive and climate-resilient agri-food systems and livelihoods by 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.