GRAND CAYMAN – The Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) says it is collaborating with the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) to reduce the impact of wildfires on the people, communities, and the economy of Barbados.
CCRIF said it has provided a grant to the Centre for Biosecurity Studies at UWI, for a project focused on understanding the impact of climate change and wildfires in Barbados. It said wildfires are common during the dry season and pose a risk to human health, lives, crops, and property, and can deplete scarce water resources.
The CCRIF, which said it limits the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes, earthquakes and excess rainfall events to Caribbean and Central American governments, noted that to date, project funds have been used to purchase drones to collect data on wildfires to enable the Barbados Fire Service to develop evidence-based strategies to address fire-related risks.
The CCRIF said it is also providing funding for the procurement of ten air pollution sensors, which will be donated to the Ministry of Health to assist in their monitoring of air pollution levels and to determine the impact of wildfires on air pollution.
“The contribution of wildfires to air pollution is known to exacerbate respiratory illnesses especially in persons with health conditions such as asthma. The sensors will be installed at strategic locations near to residential communities that are at risk of wildfires,” it said.
CCRIF chief executive officer, Isaac Anthony said that the company will continue to provide resources for the implementation of projects like these across the Caribbean.
“These projects that are part of our Small Grants Programme are key to building the resilience of our people, communities and organisations to natural hazards and climate change,” he said, adding that since 2015, CCRIF has provided over three million US dollars for projects being implemented by civil society organisations, academic institutions and governments across the region.
“The focus of our funding includes the rehabilitation of ecosystems; climate-smart agriculture; hazard-resilient construction; nature-based solutions; and climate change adaptation – with all projects including capacity building components.
“We are desirous of doing more under our small grants programme and scaling up our support and we encourage Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) from across the region to apply for grants throughout the year via our small grants platform,” Anthony added.
The CCRIf said that an important component of the project with UWI will be to conduct risk communication training for media and other organisations, adding “this training is being designed to increase public awareness about the relationships among climate, fires, water infrastructure vulnerability, and environmental and human health impacts – and actions that persons can take to safeguard their health.
“This current project with UWI is being implemented as part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between The University of the West Indies and CCRIF. This longstanding partnership has been in place since 2010 and the MOU provides a framework for collaboration on disaster risk management and climate change adaptation projects, delivery of courses on disaster risk financing as well as capacity building through provision of scholarships and internships to students.
“Since 2010, CCRIF has provided UWI with resources surpassing over US$1.6 million inclusive of US$1 million for undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships to 148 Caribbean nationals,” the CCRIF said. (CMC)
The CCRIF is providing funding for the procurement of ten air pollution sensors which will be donated to the Ministry of Health. (CMC)
