Project Partners & Identifying a Problem in St. Lucia Charles Kerchner Community Development & Applied Economics

Have ties with stakeholders They tend to know the elements of the problem Long term sustainability Project partners: Why are they important?

Risks of not having one Having a negative impact on communities –Decisions without thorough knowledge of culture, geography or history Not being able to complete intended project objectives –We do not have the resources or contacts that institutions in St. Lucia do

Project partners from top to bottom

Example of project partners: IWCAM Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries Permanent Secretary Chief Planning Officer Chief forestry, Chief of agriculture, Chief of fisheries Extension from each of the district CEHI

Project partners Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Caribbean Natural Resource Institute (CANARI) Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) Talvan Water Catchment Group (TWCG) SMMA

How did we choose a project partner? Need to choose a problem Need to familiarize ourselves with the issues Conduct a literature review Don’t want to reinvent the wheel If we’re going to work with stakeholders we need to know what we’re talking about

How do we choose a problem? Scale Economy is sustained by the ecosystem –Extraction rates should not exceed regeneration rates Distribution –Social equality (i.e. GDP doesn’t reflect distribution) Allocation –Economic efficiency

Process Identify issues Identify stakeholders List alternatives Define the problem Define the desirable ends: stakeholders should do this Objectives

Valuation study with IWCAM project: What’s the problem? Babonneau Hill 20 water treatment center Photo: Christopher Cox

List stakeholders Consider all stakeholders: Depends on your position Scuba-dive operator Hotel owner Soufriere resident Fisherman Farmer

List Alternatives: 1 “win-win” Farmer receives benefits from selling market goods while still providing positive externalities to downstream beneficiaries

Alternative 2 “reality” What if markets for unsustainable agriculture pay more? ‘Social Trap’

Let’s define the problem What are the resource characteristics?

What’s the problem? Traditionally the value of forests are based on the amount of timber they can provide. Forests provide many other services that are important to human well-being and economic welfare, but are not valued in the commercial market. For example: –Water filtration –Flood control –Erosion Control –Recreation

Desirable ends Find a ministry, organization or project that is working on it. What are the desirable ends? Signed onto the Millennium Development goals: environmental sustainability Goal of IWCAM

Goals Overall Goal:Capture the full value of forests and sustainable land use practices for developing an integrated watershed management approach. Project objectives: Place a monetary value on two ecosystem services provided by watersheds in St. Lucia: 1) recreation. 2) erosion control.

Assignment Handouts What’s the problem? Who are the stakeholders? What are objectives of projects or organizations working on the issue? How could our class fill a niche within that project?

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