Dominica, nestled in the heart of the Caribbean, has long been accustomed to the power of hurricanes. These natural forces, while integral to the island’s ecology, have also left enduring scars on its landscape and communities. In the wake of such challenges, Dominica has emerged as a beacon of resilience, committing to be the world’s first climate resilient country and spearheading initiatives to guide the island’s recovery and resilience.  Central to Dominica’s approach is a fundamental truth: the government, however well-intentioned, cannot undertake climate adaptation and resilience efforts in isolation. Instead, it is the collaborative leadership of local communities that serves as the bedrock of effective resilience-building endeavours.

Veronica talking to Regi Joseph

Dominica’s hurricane experience shows the urgency of taking proactive adaptation measures. In response to the devastation wrought by hurricane Maria in 2017, the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica crafted the Climate Resilience and Recovery Plan. This Plan aligned governmental efforts with the need for locally led adaptation and acknowledges that resilience is not a top-down imposition but a movement rooted in the collective wisdom and agency of local stakeholders.

The leadership of the Government laid the foundation for many local leaders to take climate adaptation action in their own communities. Examples of the initiatives shown by local leaders are outlined below, and demonstrate that locally-led climate adaptation (LLA) needs to be both well resourced and diverse (from small-scale agriculture focusing on ensuring food security for post hurricane resilience, to boat building for fishers and protection of critical ecosystems).

For Dominica to be climate resilient, it needs to adopt farming practices that can provide food following events like hurricanes. Leading the way in resilient farming practices is Regina Joseph in the Kalinago Territory. She is a past Awardee of the 2019 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Resilient Farmer of the Year and the recipient of the country’s second highest honour, the Meritorious Service Award – Agriculture in 2021. As such, she has many lessons on climate resilience for other food producers. Some of the techniques she employs on her small holding include:

• planting diverse crops (both annual and perennial) and annual crop rotation
• soil conservation using Vetiver bunch grass. With its mass of roots going down as much as seven metres, combined with its multiple uses (traditional weaving, thatching and fragrance source) Vetiver is an excellent border plant for Regina’s crops.
• water conservation by mulching crops with Vetiver leaves and planting indigenous trees around the water source to reduce erosion and shade from the Caribbean sun. Some of these techniques have been learned by the indigenous Kalinago after thousands of years dealing with hurricanes.
• no pesticides, but natural practices to keep pests and diseases at bay.
• And timing tuber maturity to coincide with the hurricane season – something the Kalinago people have practiced for many hundreds of years. Root vegetables such as casava survive the high winds of hurricanes and can provide a food source when other foods are not available.

Bertley Carrette

A humble and skilled Regi adds that to succeed at farming, you have to bring your heart and mind to the job – growers need to plant tuber crops that have their edible parts in the earth that are not exposed to the high winds.. ‘We are a very strong people – I am close to mother earth. We plant things that are resilient, like ginger, turmeric, sweet potato, casava and yam to survive hurricanes’.

Bertley Carrette, is an unlikely poster child for locally-led adaptation in Dominica. As a self-taught boat builder, and with government support, he has pioneered the design and construction of a cost-effective, robust fishing boat to help replace fleets lost in hurricanes.

“I taught myself how to build boats that are both strong and appropriate for Dominican fishers” says Carrette.  “Now we can make boats locally, without relying on expensive imports as well as providing local employment”. In doing so, Carrette has demonstrated the power of community-driven action in confronting environmental challenges. His work serves as a poignant reminder that sustainable adaptation requires the active engagement and leadership of individuals embedded within their respective communities. He also points out that he wouldn’t have been able to make such progress without government funding support.

Simon Walsh of Nature Island Dive

In the marine environment, the endeavours undertaken in the Soufriere and Scotts’ Head Marine Reserve further underscore the pivotal role of local leadership in adaptation efforts.

“I’ve seen more reef destruction from climate change in the last 2 years than I have in the last 32 years of diving”, says Simon Walsh of Nature Island Dive. Simon and his team are focusing on coral reef protection to mitigate the impacts of climate change and to nurture ecosystems vital to Dominica’s ecological and economic well-being. In the coming weeks, divers will be transferring representative coral species into temperature-controlled tanks in order to preserve them from the forecasted sea temperature spikes expected this year. ‘They’re like Noah’s Ark’ says Walsh. Through community-led conservation efforts, these coral tanks will serve as the basis to repopulate the coral reefs in the future. But access to funding is an ever-present issue – without a secure source of funding their ‘Noah’s Ark’ work will come to a halt.

Wild Dominique is another testament to the transformative potential of grassroots initiatives in fostering resilience. Jeanelle Brisbane, founder of Wild Dominique, is the only ecologist on Domincia; she is engaged in a battle to preserve the bio-diversity of a country known as ‘The Nature Island’ of the Caribbean. Many species are at risk on the island, including the endangered frog, called the mountain chicken, and the national bird, the Imperial Amazon. One of the challenges Jeanelle is working on is developing bio-security legislation. Ironically, the international aid given to Dominica after hurricane Maria in 2017 also introduced some pests that are impacting the natural environment. Initiatives like Wild Dominique exemplify the fusion of traditional knowledge with modern innovation that can foster a sense of ownership and stewardship for the natural heritage of Dominica.

Jeanelle on board Novara

All of these examples of LLA have one thing in common – the need for sufficient financial support to be able to continue their efforts. Whether it is Ms Joseph’s need for funding for her small holding work or Mr Walsh’s need for funding for the operation of the coral tanks access to funding is an existential threat to many LLA actions. Funding from donors in particular plays a pivotal role in bridging resource gaps and facilitating community-driven initiatives in Dominica. A good example is Calibishe’s new casava processing company, supported from grants from the FAO and technical assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture. Local businessman and President of the Community Tourism Association, Webster Marie says ‘Casava is a resilient crop with many benefits to the local community. It is a great food source and there’s a huge demand for gluten free casava flour’.

Donor funding is only one source of financial resources – other innovative finance models, such as impact investing and climate finance mechanisms, hold promise in unlocking new avenues for financing resilience-building endeavours at the local level.

The journey towards resilience in Dominica is one defined by collaboration, empowerment, and innovation. As the island navigates the complex challenges posed by a changing climate, the need for locally led adaptation has never been clearer. Through the concerted efforts of government, civil society, and local communities, Dominica stands poised to not only weather the storms of tomorrow but to emerge stronger, more resilient, and more united than ever before.

Petra Grell-Shillingford, Head of Communications and Information at the Ministry of Agriculture was pivotal in the Novara team learning about the resilience initiatives in Dominica. Our huge thanks to her and her colleagues at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Blue and Green Economy who assisted our learning while in Dominica.