CLEAR worked with the Philip Stephenson Foundation from 2016 to 2023 to implement a programme of activities aimed at promoting sustainable livelihoods and community-based conservation in the small islands of the Southern Grenadines. The activities included developing opportunities for sustainable offshore fishing with the fishing cooperatives on Petite Martinique, Union Island and Mayreau.
It also involved providing assistance to seamoss farmers on Mayreau and the marketing of their value-added seamoss products among tourism operators. The project also supported the construction of a solar-powered ice-making plant, the provision of large heavy-duty coolers and the deployment of fish aggregating devices (FADs). On Union, CLEAR and PSF worked with SusGren to develop opportunities for honey production among the local community.
The aim of these activities was to help fishing communities increase and diversify household incomes, while alleviating fishing pressure on the fragile and over-exploited inshore coral reefs. In 2019, CLEAR started a large-scale coral restoration programme around Petit St Vincent. See videos from See videos from 2021 and 2022. This restoration programme has now been incorporated under new projects being implemented by CLEAR and funded through the EbA Facility of the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund – see 2023.
