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International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH)
175 Longwood Road South, Suite 204, Hamilton Ontario L8P 0A1 CANADA
Phone: 1-905-667-5511
Fax: 1-905-667-5510
Email: contact@inweh.unu.edu
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Caribbean Coastal Pollution Project (CCPP)
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This project aims at the assessment, monitoring and management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS) in the Coastal Ecosystems of the Wider Caribbean Region and commenced in September 2007. It is being funded by the World Bank through the Canada Persistent Organic Pollutants Fund of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
The goal of this four to five-year project (Canadian POPs Trust Fund support through 2009) is to build a network among environmental managers, analytical laboratories, and other appropriate governmental agencies in countries of the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) that will be effective in measuring, evaluating and then reducing pollution from POPs and other PTS in coastal marine environments. These reductions will be achieved through changes to behaviour that stem releases of pollutants into the environment in upstream agriculture and industry. To do this, we are deliberately building upon the multi-national networks established by other projects, particularly the MBRS GEF project in México, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, and the IWCAM GEF project in Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago, plus other countries. |
Project Objectives
This phase of the project (2008-2009) has the
following 5 objectives:
| 1. | To build a network among the coastal management agencies and selected analytical laboratories of participant countries capable of undertaking monitoring for POPs and other PTS in priority coastal marine ecosystems and possibly in rivers and fresh water bodies close to coastal areas. |
| 2. | To evaluate laboratory capacity through lab visits and cross-calibration trials, and then implement advanced training of laboratory personnel through workshops and secondments of staff to Canadian labs, and provide for upgrading of instrumentation. The project will use existing information on laboratories in the region from the Global POPs Laboratory Inventory (UNEP, FAO, UNIDO, FAO, WHO, ILO). |
| 3. | To undertake an initial, baseline level of monitoring of sediments and biota (most probably specific fish and shellfish species) at selected coastal marine sites, and possible upstream sites, building upon previous monitoring efforts where possible, and to analyze the samples for a broad range of POPs and other PTS. |
| 4. | To engage national governments and the public on the extent of the PTS problem and the need for ameliorative action. This will involve publication of a preliminary report on the presence of POPs and other PTS in the WCR coastal oceans, and one or more workshops with members of the monitoring network, representatives of agencies responsible for agriculture, industry and upland environments, and other relevant stakeholders; agreement on a format for regular reporting on PTS/POPs of concern. |
| 5. | To prepare a project proposal for continuation into a Third Phase. In addition to ongoing full-scale POPs monitoring, and further upgrade of lab capacity, it will include demonstration projects to determine the source of those POPs and other PTS considered most serious in the coastal marine environments of specific countries, and then bring about changes to behaviour that will ameliorate or eliminate their release. |
Project Activities 2007-2009
Second Progress Report on Activities, 1 January 2009 – 31 July 2009 (pdf 328KB)
Progress Report on Project Activities, 1 November 2007 - 31 December 2008 (pdf 158KB)
Capacity Building
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Training Lab Staff from Jamaica and Mexico at the University of Windsor and Trent University, Canada, March 2009
Training Workshop, Merida, Mexico, 19-20 January 2009
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Coordination
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Interim Reporting Workshop & Partners Meeting, Merida, Mexico, 21-24 January 2009
Regional Workshop, Chaguaramas, Trinidad, 10-12 June 2008
Planning Workshop, Hamilton, Canada, 26-28 November 2007
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Outreach
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Caribbean EcoHealth Programme (CEHP) Meeting, Ross University, Dominica, 20-22 May 2009
The following posters were presented at the Ross University Research Day, Theme: Public Health in Developing Countries: Challenges and Solutions, 22nd May 2009.
Hanneke Van Lavieren, UNU-INWEH, Enhancing capacity to assess and manage persistent organic pollutants in coastal areas of the Wider Caribbean region (pdf 112KB)
Chris Metcalfe, Trent University, Domestic wastewater as a source of contaminants in freshwater aquifers in the Mayan Riviera tourism region of Mexico (pdf 82KB)
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Research & Monitoring
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Quantitative Biomonitoring of POPs in Caribbean Coastal Zones Using Oysters
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Last Updated: August 2009