PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Guadeloupe is regularly exposed to extreme weather events. These are expected to get stronger and more frequent with climate change. The Caribbean is home to coral reefs, mangrove forests and seagrass meadows land and marine ecosystems, which provide essential defense infighting climate change. However, due to increasing CO2 emissions, waste pollution and ocean acidification, serious doubts arise about their future capacity to provide ecosystemic services as those unique ecosystems are already showing signs of significant weakness and degradation.
OBJECTIVES
LIFE Adapt'Islands objectives are to make the territory better adapted to climate change and to build its resilience against extreme climate events. It will restore and protect coastal and marine ecosystems and their ecological connections, and improve the quality of goods and services that these ecosystems provide.
The projects goals are to:
- Develop an ambitious, innovative and transferable strategy to adapt to climate change.
- Restore physical ecological connections between these three coastal and marine environments (ecosystems)
- Demonstrate the efficiency and replicability of innovative techniques for restoring coastal and marine ecosystems in the Caribbean.
- Carry out an ambitious campaign to engage with civil society through educational and awareness-raising initiatives targeting business leaders, users, school children and the public.
- Strengthen resilience to climate change by integrating coastal biodiversity with socio-economic development through involvment of economic stakeholders and development of training for young people.
- Duplicate techniques developed during the project across the Caribbean and carry out an ambitious communications campaign for the Caribbean and Europe to disseminate results.
RESULTS
Expected results:
- Participation to the protection of 5 600 ha of coasts;
- a new climate adaptation strategy with a focus on people living less than 10m above sea level. Almost 400 000 people are expected to benefit indirectly;
- around 4,000 school children informed about the implemented climate adaptation strategies;
- at least 6,115 m² of coral reef restored by planting specimens of nursery-cultivated coral (Acropora palmata and Acropora cervicornis) at degraded sites;
- 120,000 m² of mangroves restored;
- 45,000 m² of seagrass bed habitat protected from the impact of mooring.
