STRENGTHENING THE CASE FOR NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS IN THE CARIBBEAN

Uncertain climate changes, rapid environmental degradation, and threats from natural disasters are among some present pressures facing global communities (Reguero et al. 2022). Addressing these intractable issues requires adaptability and innovation to meet project objectives while ensuring sustainability and climate resilience. Climate adaptation measures cannot only focus on finding engineering solutions to address issues such as coastal erosion or flooding but must also consider the level of the receiving community’s acceptance to or involvement in a proposed solution which can shape not only the implementation phase of an engineered design, but guide on mechanisms for maintenance and monitoring (Anderson et al. 2021). Therefore, local knowledge is critical to the success of proposed solutions and understanding potential opportunities and challenges within a region is key.