Committee will monitor environmental conventions

It’s one of those events that can easily be dismissed as a talkshop with no tangible outcome besides money being spent to hold a press conference. But tonight organisers of a new government initiative say the job of enforcing environmental treaties signed between Belize and governments around the world will be challenging but achievable. According to the project’s point man, Anselmo Castaneda, the National Capacity Self Assessment Project will monitor the implementation of three conventions ratified over the last twelve years dealing with climate change, biodiversity and desertification. Castenada says by the end of the year, a plan of action will be formalized by the project’s committee.

Anselmo Castaneda, NCSA Project Manager
?This project is a project that is going to assist the Government of Belize to assess its capacity; it?s limitation to meet its obligations and commitments to three United Nations conventions. Basically, the Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to combat desertification. This last one even though we do not have any deserts in Belize, but we do have the beginning of land degradation which eventually leads into desertification.?

Patrick Jones
?So basically this project what exactly is it? Is it just a bunch of people who will be sitting around in an office? Just another bureaucracy??

Anselmo Castaneda
?No, this project is going to be a highly consultative process that is going to be working not only with government agencies. We?re going to be working with NGO?s, with private sector, with the agriculture sector, the tourism sector so that they can participate and tell the Conventions, this is our needs now here are some proposals for you to help us develop that capacity. That is one of the products of this project. It?s a twelve months project. It finishes in December and we should have a national strategy and action plan that will include those proposals that I just mentioned to you.?

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment is responsible for the implementation of the three conventions that will be monitored by the National Capacity Self Assessment Project.