CANARI draws on its programmatic experience to provide advice and technical assistance on participatory planning and management. The Institute has developed a unique blend of experience and skills in the specific areas listed below. A fee is charged for all services. While in some instances CANARI may be able to help identify potential sources of support, organisations requesting CANARI's services are responsible for securing the necessary funding. If you would like to contact CANARI to discuss your technical assistance needs please contact the Institute’s Managing Partner, Sarah McIntosh by email or post.

Facilitation of stakeholder approaches to natural resource management

One of the most exciting and promising developments in the field of conservation and natural resource management in the region in recent years has been the increase in the use of participatory approaches and methods in planning and policy formulation. This experience has shown that such approaches are particularly suited to complex multi-stakeholder, multiple-use situations, where there is very often a need for independent and external facilitation services that can enhance the fairness and quality of the process. CANARI has also played a supporting role in the participatory formulation of management plans for various types of conservation areas and more recently in community-based and pro-poor approaches to tourism development in the region. For example:

• CANARI undertook a series of studies and consultations in collaboration with the Southern Tourism Development Corporation to explore and develop the potential for heritage tourism development in the south of St. Lucia. As part of this work, local and national stakeholders were involved in analysing the sector. CANARI collected information on the range of sites and attractions that could comprise the heritage tourism product in the area and identified current and potential interests, assets and roles.
• At the request of the Environmental Management Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, CANARI helped to design mechanisms for the effective stakeholder involvement in planning Trinidad’s newly legislated Environmentally Sensitive Areas.
• At the request of a number of Jamaican institutions, CANARI conducted a review of Jamaica’s protected areas system, which entailed a number of consultations with a wide-cross section of the stakeholders in protected area management as well as interviews and literature reviews. Earlier work included the formulation of a user fee system for Jamaica’s marine parks.
• Along with two other agencies, CANARI played a facilitating role in the establishment of the Soufriere Marine Management Area, comprising 11 km of coastline and the adjacent marine area. The 18-month long process of participatory planning resulted in the creation of an institutional and technical framework for management of the area’s coastal resources and the conflicts provoked by the diverse use of these resources.

Research and analysis on participatory processes

CANARI is a learning organisation that is constantly seeking to improve its understanding of the ways in which stakeholder participation can be most effective and how policies and institutions can deliver equitable and sustainable benefits from natural resource management. Its research programme and contract work have sought to improve this understanding.

• Over a period of two years, CANARI, in collaboration with the Jamaican Forestry Department, undertook an assessment of Local Forest Management Committees (LFMCs) recently established to involve stakeholders in managing Jamaica’s forest reserves. This study helped to better understand the requirements for effective natural resource management institutions involving overlapping jurisdictions, multiple stakeholders and complex resource use patterns.
• CANARI recently completed a three-year project entitled Coastal livelihoods in the Caribbean: institutional and technical options, focusing on the coastal village of Laborie in Saint Lucia. The primary focus of the project was on testing and developing specific tools and methods, as applied to the management of reefs and reef resources, in two main areas. The first was testing, developing, refining and documenting of methods that increase the effective participation of stakeholders in planning and management. The second was exploring and documenting technologies and management tools which can enhance the social and economic benefits derived from the sustainable use of coastal resources, and particularly from the reef fishery, sea urchin harvesting, seaweed cultivation and heritage tourism.
• Over the past four years the Institute has conducted three assessments of the status of participatory planning and management in the region. An evaluation of the first experiences of participatory planning and management of marine and coastal resources was conducted with support from UNEP and DFID. Click here for link to the summary of this publication. This was followed by the profiling of the region’s marine protected areas, which gave an indication of the extent to which MPAs were using stakeholder approaches. Click here for pdf version of this study. The Institute has recently concluded a survey of participatory forest management in the region, which has helped to inform recommendations for policy directions in this field. Click here for pdf version of this study and the policy brief that was developed from the findings of this study.

Reef monitoring

CANARI has served as an Eastern Caribbean node of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), providing training in reef monitoring methods, including the Reef Check protocol, and assisting in the compilation of GCRMN’s reports on the global status of coral reefs.

Participatory resource mapping

There is a growing need and use of mapping and geographical information systems amongst the natural resource management agencies of the region. CANARI has promoted the use of the Map Maker software - a powerful but inexpensive cartographic and GIS program designed for resource management applications - by providing training to resource management agencies in the region and at the community level. This experience is being tested in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines where the Forestry Department requires the ability to map their inventory of management plots and to monitor changes in natural forest cover. In Saint Lucia the Forestry Department is using the technology in support of watershed management by mapping changes in vegetation cover using archived airphotos and in the compilation of maps of wetland sites of international importance for the Ramsar Convention.

The study of coastal livelihoods conducted in Laborie, described above, used participatory mapping and GIS throughout its implementation as a means of gathering and sharing information among stakeholders and of integrating popular and scientific knowledge in the planning process. Based on that experience, CANARI is working with local community organisations to establish the project GIS as a tool for community development.

Strategic planning and organizational development

CANARI has particular interest in supporting the development and evolution of institutions that can design and facilitate participatory and collaborative approaches to natural resource management. CANARI worked with the Saint Lucia National Trust to design and facilitate its strategic planning process. CANARI has also helped design a strategic planning process for the Saint Lucia Department of Fisheries and is presently assisting the Trinidadian community-based group, Nature Seekers Incorporated, in a review of their organization, 10 years after its establishment.

Policy review and analysis

In response to a demand for policy guidelines that foster more equitable forms of tourism development the Institute has initiated a pilot project in Grenada, with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and a number of other key actors. This project aims to conduct a participatory process of policy development that draws on the experiences and views of a wide range of stakeholders leading to the drafting of policy guidelines that could be used by others in the region.

Training and study tours

In addition to its annual training program, CANARI will design and facilitate national training courses and programmes and study tours based on request and demonstrated demand. For example:

• The Jamaica Forestry Department identified a need to provide key frontline staff with conflict management techniques. Demand from departmental staff was such that discussions took place with CANARI on the feasibility of holding an in-country workshop on conflict management. This resulted in the workshop "Understanding and Managing Forestry Conflicts" that was supported by the FAO and attended by 19 Forestry Department staff and representatives from partner organisations. This activity led to similar courses being run by the Institute in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago
• As the experience and technology of seamoss cultivation continue to develop in Saint Lucia, CANARI has provided training, or facilitated internships, for scientists, resource managers and potential farmers from a number of islands in the region.

Documentation and information services

CANARI has a reference library that specialises in themes relevant to the work of the Institute. The library is open to Caribbean institutions, professionals, students, and researchers by appointment only. CANARI provides photocopying, mailing and bibliographic search services for a fee. CANARI will also compile annotated bibliographies on relevant themes. CANARI's publications and technical reports are available to its partners and the general public.