Antigua & Barbuda’s 2015-2020 National Action Plan: Combatting Desertification, Land Degradation & Drought.

The National Action Plan Combatting Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought is a National Plan with a cross-sectoral approach and its duration is 5 years between 2015 and 2020. The main objective of the Plan is to effectively achieve resilience to and manage the impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought.
The Plan sets forth that the efforts to combat desertification, land degradation and drought should also serve to improve other important problematic sectors as it adopts a cross-sectoral approach. To this end, the Plan states that the prime agricultural lands will be identified and committed to the national food security process.
The Plan sets forward watershed management will be improved as watersheds have fundamental importance to the water supply situation for the nation. The number of livestock using some watershed areas will be reduced and reforestation will be done in citronella grass areas to reduce siltation in the ponds and reservoirs which will improve recharge of the ground water sources. Specific management plans for individual watersheds and wetlands will be implemented and these plans will foresee a) protection against storms, winds, rolling stones, floods and landslides; b) prevention of soil erosion and landslip, formation of ravines and torrents, and deposit of mud, stones and sand upon agricultural land; c) maintenance of water supplies in springs, rivers, canals and reservoirs; d) protection of topography and vegetative cover; e) protection from free roaming of livestock and invasive alien species; for each specific area.
Public awareness will be raised and education initiatives will be launched for all with special emphasis on the youth. The Plan further sets out that the sector specific awareness-raising programmes will be carried out targeting specific groups such as forest villagers, fishermen, farmers or backwoodsmen.
The institutional, financial and socio-economic barriers to sustainable land management will be assessed, and appropriate measures to remove these barriers will be taken for combating desertification, land degradation and drought. Land use planning will be strengthened and the enforcement of policies and legislation will be ensured. Importance will be given to land classification and to protect lands used for purposes which have not been prescribed. Unauthorized development activities will be prohibited. Crown lands will be classified and used for future development needs. A land use guide will be prepared for crown lands based upon their classification. The Plan further underlines that at the end all the land not owned by private enterprises will be managed as a whole. The holistic land management will a) identify agricultural lands which also contribute to national food security process; b) water courses and other water bodies will be effectively buffered to prevent, contamination, flooding, backfilling and integrated in drought management plans; c) land suitable only for livestock grazing will be put to those purposes thereby reducing the damage caused by unregulated free-range grazing; d) urbanization will be better coordinated with stakeholders thereby promoting long term development planning. Different stakeholders will be included in the preparation and implementation of this Plan. Capacity building will be strengthened in communication with the key institutions at the international, national and local levels, including international civil society organizations, professional associations and the related scientific community.
A National Drought Mitigation System will be developed by the Disaster Management Council. The system will: a) take measures to mitigate drought, b) improve delivery mechanism for early warning to key stakeholders and groups, and c) assist stakeholders in developing appropriate actions for drought in the preparation and early warning stages. Furthermore, the introduction of invasive plant species will be prevented to prevent their adverse impacts on the land itself and land management practices.