ST JAMES, Jamaica – Comprehensive soil surveys are underway in two parishes, the results of which will inform national action to promote sustainable land use and management practices for agriculture and infrastructure development.

Currently, soil assessments are being conducted at the Holland Estate and Ginger Hill in St Elizabeth, as well as Lowe River in Trelawny, which are the pilot areas for the project.

It is part of a regional undertaking by the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM) in collaboration with Caribbean governments and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, St Lucia, Grenada, Guyana and Haiti are the other islands benefitting under the initiative.

The Caribbean SOILCARE project seeks to create a conducive and enabling environment and to support countries in achieving Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets in keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

This entails practicing sustainable land management and restoring degraded lands in specified areas and time periods, so as to maintain or increase the amount and quality of land resources, sustain ecosystem functions and services, and enhance food security.

Senior Director for Hazard Mitigation at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Patrick Watson, indicated that the project will inform development planning at the local level to strengthen resilience against natural disasters.

He was providing details about the project during Tuesday’s meeting of the Disaster Preparedness Hazard Mitigation & Safety Committee of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation.

“This…is about getting information about soil management and land management generally, so we can make more informed decisions when we move out to build, as to what land to use for what,” said Watson.

He noted that residents in the pilot areas will be engaged to assess the land challenges they face.

“The project is not only to give a report, but also to be building some capacity. It must be doing something to improve lives at the local level. We want to connect with what is happening and use the information to guide further things that we are doing for the local space in which these interventions are done,” he pointed out.

The project will be rolled out across Jamaica and the other participating Caribbean countries over time.

–JIS