Calibishie Community Environmental Protection Project is spearheaded by the Calibishie Golden Age Group. This group is mainly made up of Senior Citizens and has a membership of 45 persons who are keen to contribute knowledge and skills to the community and to promote social activities in the community.
The objective of this project is to protect and enhance the environment through management of solid waste and tree planting to increase vegetation cover while recognizing traditional village practice for hedges that lined the streets and the surrounded homes rather than the concrete walls and other fences that are more common in other communities. This traditional practice of the community of Calibishie has survived the challenges of modern day construction practices of increased use of concrete, but there is indication of a decline in the upkeep and maintenance of existing plant hedges. Also in more recent years not many new hedges have been planted.
The group is hoping, through the GEF/SGP that it will be able to restore this sense of pride of community by restoring the traditional hedge and putting systems in place to manage the garbage.
The main project activities will be: Capacity building of number of Golden Age group and the community organization in participating in areas such as: project development , project management ,monitoring and evaluation ,team building , climate change , sustainable development, participating in methods ,GEF focal areas to protect and enhance the environment through management of solid waste and tree planting to increase vegetation cover while recognizing traditional village practice.
Public awareness and education program in Solid Waste Management, environmental protection, sustainable practices, in benefits of using hedges to line the streets and surrounding homes rather than the concrete walls and metal or plastic fences that are more common in the communities.
The Calibishie Golden Age Group has been making efforts to increase the practice to ensure that introduction of concrete walls is minimized as much as possible. Also the increase in plant hedges will add to the village ambiance and beauty and increase vegetation coverage of land areas and contribute tremendously to conserve biodiversity of the area. Through education and proper management of litter, there will be reduction in litter and protection of the environment especially the nearby sea shore and reef.
The project skills development will include: Plant propagation, Composting and Hedge planting and trimming.
The community through the group will be contributing all the labor for the project which includes planting of the plants and maintenance work necessary. The community of Calibishie and the Golden Age Group is very active and will be fully supported by the village council and other community groups which will mobilized the participants in all project activities.
ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND AND CAPACITY TO IMPLEMENT THE PROJECT
Calibishie Golden Age Group is made up of mainly senior citizens of Calibishie. The group has a membership of 45 persons and is growing strongly. The group is registered with the Dominica Council of Aging and had its formal launching on the 20th of February, 2011. The objective is to provide opportunities for senior citizens to contribute knowledge and skills to the community and to promote social activities in the community; the theme being ?Moving Forward with Renewed Strength?.
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The majority of the group members are farmers and ex-famers, housewives, ex-public sector workers and leaders in the community. The coordinator is Virginia Peters District nurse of Calibishie, President Mrs Melanese George, Secretary Mrs Valda Cadette-George, Treasurer Mrs. Theresa George, Vice Treasurer Mrs Angelo Joseph and PRO. Fegenie George. The group meets the last Friday of every month at 4 pm. The group is very passionate about this project and with its strong base of farmers, is confident they will succeed in the implementation.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED RESULTS
Problem: The community of Calibishie has been known generally for it pristine clean surroundings, the most outstanding feature being its trademark of floral hedge and litter free environment from one end of the village to the next. Over the years we have seen the diminishing of the hedge and ornamental plants and an increase in litter that is now threatening our image and pride.
Due to increase in development we have seen the increase in litter and garbage. Calibishie has not been able to have more than two collections a month from the Solid Waste Management Corporation, making the storage of waste a current challenge.
This project will keep Calibishie clean and garbage free and restore the beautiful hedge it was once known for. Restore the sense of pride to the youth and woo them to uphold the example set by the Golden Age Group. Therefore we are seeking to work with the community residents and groups in hedge restoration and to erect garbage bins at strategic locations in the community. As part of the beautification and enhancement program initiated by the government of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Calibishie has to emerge winner and hope to maintain this position. This project will be a sample for other villages in Dominica as it promotes the value of having a green and clean and well kept environment.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
The project will first identify all the areas in the community where there is a need for hedge restoration and the areas of high litter. Assessment will be done in the areas in the community where there is a need for replanting of hedge. This assessment will be properly documented paying special attention to soil type, weeds present or other existing challenges, types of plants suitable for the area, types of plants needed in keeping with the village tradition and the amount of plants needed in the specific area. For this stage the golden age group members volunteered to group themselves in small groups to represent different parts of the community. A group leader was selected from each group, and the leader will be responsible to manage and report back to the group Co-coordinator, V.Peters.
The groups formed were as follow.
Calibishie Ridge----------leader Mr. Bernard Marie Jno Baptiste Ridge--------leader Mr. St. Luce Joseph Savanne Paille-------------leader Mr. Francoir Benjamin Dubique --------------------leader Mr. Angelo Joseph Sweet river area-----------leader Mrs. Regina Telemaque Salt river area -------------leader Mrs. Veronica Tobias Central village area-------leader Mrs. Fegenie George Point baptiste area---------leader Miss. Emab Celestine Coconut ridge area--------leader Mrs. Ivinia George
Stage two will be to identify ways in accruing/propagating the type of plants needed along with the sensitization of other community groups.
Stage three will be to conduct the necessary training in plant propagation and team formation.
Stage four of the process will be the procurement of plants, propagation of plants and soil preparation.
In stage five, training will be conducted by the Solid Waste Management Corporation with the general public of Calibishie and for the development of sub-committees for waste management and monitoring of systems.
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Stage six is the procurement of the necessary bins that will fit in with the hereditary of the community and vision. Procurement of tools for planting and maintenance of plants will also be done at this stage.
Stage seven, involve the launching of the program, this will deepen the public awareness of the community and create the additional community interest and involvement.
Stage eight, will commence hedge restoration; this will include mobilizing groups, coordinating planters and allocation of planting material in the necessary areas. This stage is very critical for data collection and reporting.
Stage nine, installation of bins, in keeping with the assessment carried out and advise of the Dominica Solid Waste Management Corporation, the bins will be community owned and on that basis therefore, will be community serviced by the groups that will be given that particular responsibility in conjunction with the village council.
Work on the planting of flowers will be done every afternoon for 4 pm to 6:30 pm for the first two weeks. The groups will be divided into three teams which will be competing against each other. One team will be led by Angelo Joseph (past chairman of the village council and farmer) the other by Bernard Marie (past manger of CCCU, now farmer) and the other by Regina Telemaque; a farmer. The team was be selected based on location of residence and the requirements of the expertise available in the area. Each leader will be responsible for taking all necessary records and supervisor responsibility of their team.
Teams will be given their specific time frame by Virginia Peters within which they are to accomplish specific tasks and will be evaluated by an independent committee who will do their own assessment of the teams? progress. After the first two weeks the teams will be required to work on Saturday afternoons from 4 pm to 6:30 pm unsupervised and also ensuring that their work is done within target and timeframe. There will be a monthly evaluation of the best teams and quarterly recognitions for the best operating teams.
Report on proceeding will be done at general group meeting where the project?s progress will be conducted. Any necessary changes will be discussed to ensure the best possible outcome of the project.
PLAN TO ENSURE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
Firstly the group covers a wide cross section of the community and will be working closely with the village council and other interested groups. All the labor in this project will be coming from the community, this is already a tradition established by the community where the groups provide the necessary tools, snacks/ refreshment and the local people volunteer to do their part.
The Golden Age Group will write to the churches and schools inviting them to a public meeting. At this meeting the group will outline the plans of the project and how the community must work together. The importance of the project and benefits of the project to Calibishie?s environment will be outlined. From there the members of the public will be invited to all the training sessions that will be carried out by the group so as to have everyone interested. They will receive direct information as to what the project wants to achieve.
The majority of the work will be scheduled at a convenient time where everyone can participate (4:00pm to 6:30pm). Some work will be scheduled for weekends.
At the midway stage of the project a review will be conducted, it will be made public and a letter of appreciation will go out to the churches, schools and wider community for their support.
RISKS TO SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION
The internal risks are minimal, given the overall demonstrated commitment from villagers in undertaking tasks of similar nature in the past. There are systems in place for monitoring and implementation of the project.
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One possible risk is that diseases could affect the growth of the plants, hence the reason for involving the ministry of agriculture at the time of propagation and to prepare groups to maintain the plants systematically.
Other than this, it is well worthy to mention that the windward island of Dominica is subject to a yearly hurricane season, during which time the island experiences heavy rainfall and excessive winds, however in the event that the island is affected by a hurricane, the worst case scenario is that the project could be halted temporarily but not at all obliterated.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION PLAN AND INDICATORS
There will be a monthly evaluation of the best teams and quarterly recognitions for the best operating teams. An evaluation sheet will be developed which will be given to each team to conduct their self evaluation which carry 30% of the progress made. Another independent team will conduct its own evaluation that will carry 70% of total points and give a summary of where each team is in achieving their goals. The independent team will comprise of the coordinator village council, The Dominica Solid Waste Corporation and someone from the GEF/SGP Dominica. Evaluation will be done on a monthly basis.
SUSTAINABILITY
The sustainability of the project is very important for the group especially because of what it signifies for the community of Calibishie. This project will bring back one of the things that the community was known for. Before implementation there will be public awareness, during the project there will be public participation throughout. This will be monitored at meetings, through reports and evaluations to make improvement as the project proceeds. The maintenance of the project will be scheduled and evaluated quarterly.