CLEAR signed a new three-year grant agreement on 1 March 2026 to deliver a 3-year project called Targeted Ridge-to-Reef Ecosystem-based Adaptation Interventions (TREBAI) across Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The project is funded by the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund’s EbA Facility supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and KfW. The project carries a total value of US$3.31 million, with US$2.92 million provided by the EbA Facility and the balance secured through co-financing and in-kind contributions from partners including the Sandals Foundation, TradeWinds Charters, Richmond Vale Academy, We Are Mayreau Inc. and Creative Marine Solutions Ltd.
TREBAI scales up coral restoration and climate-smart farming to reduce the climate risks linked to coral loss, including declining fisheries, weakened tourism and reduced coastal protection, while strengthening food security. The project responds directly to the devastating 2024 global mass coral bleaching event, which killed an estimated 95 percent of Acropora corals in the Windward Islands.
Work will focus on restoring degraded reefs with more resilient coral genotypes at three sites, including two well-known marine protected areas, the Soufriere Marine Management Area in Saint Lucia and the Tobago Cays Marine Park in the Grenadines. A minimum of 30,000 corals will be propagated and outplanted, drawing on resilient survivors such as the Acropora palmata colonies discovered off Saint Lucia’s north-east coast in April 2025.
On land, the project will support 160 climate-smart small farms and home gardens — 100 in Saint Lucia and 60 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — mostly sited in watersheds above coral reefs to cut pollution and sedimentation. Demonstration farms will also be established in ten schools.
The project will turn trained coral gardeners and farmers into certified EbA professionals through the Caribbean Vocational Qualification in Coral Restoration and Climate-Smart Farming. The project will also launch the Windward Islands Coral Restoration Alliance (WICRA), a regional network for knowledge sharing, policy advocacy and sustainable financing through tourism-linked initiatives.
Building on CLEAR’s earlier CBF-funded projects, TREBAI is led by Executive Director Dr Owen Day and implemented with consortium partners Richmond Vale Academy and We Are Mayreau Inc. Running for 39 months, the project aligns with both nations’ National Adaptation Plans and regional commitments, including the recently announced “Actioning Blue Declaration: 30×30 Vision for the Ocean.”
Photo 1. From the Ridge to the Reef – the Soufriere Watershed and coastal coral reefs in
St Lucia will be a key target site for the TRBAI project.
Photo 2. Healthy staghorn corals growing on steel frames in one of several coral nurseries managed by CLEAR in the SMMA
Photo 3. The promotion of climate-smart farming will be a central focus of the TREBAI project, where a focus on soil ecosystem health will help to ensure more resilient soils during extreme weather events (droughts or heavy downpours)