|  |  | Contact: Rose 
Marie Harris
 
  
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    | Cities Regional |  Monday, September 15, 2003 -The Barbados based Caribbean Regional 
Environmental Programme CREP is now set to launch two very important phases of a 
million dollar project that involves thirteen Caricom states.
 CREP’s work plan for the launching of a Demonstration Project at specific sites 
in the participating countries and for raising Regional Environmental Awareness 
(REA) has been approved and a total of 2.7 million Euro has been committed 
towards these programme components.
 
 Programme Technical Officer with CREP, Simone Mangal explains that the launching 
of the Project is just one component of the programme. “That’s the component 
that that essentially based on building regional capacity. What we are doing is 
that we are building the capacity of regional organisations to deliver on their 
mandate. Canari which is delivering today’s course on participatory planning and 
collaborative management is actually going to be reaching this course to 
organisations around the Caribbean that are part of the CREP programme.”
 
 The Project has identified a number of Amenity Areas in the region of 
significant ecological and economic value and through a process of training and 
capacity building it is hoped that those sites will be better managed by 
strengthening collaboration between government and non governmental 
organisations.
 
 “That component of the programme is very very key. We also have a component that 
is called a Caribbean Regional and International Awareness programme and what 
that is doing is focussing on building the awareness around the region on 
environmental issues. We have something which is called the REIN, which is 
Regional Environmental and Information Networking and that is focussed on 
linking together all the organisations in the region with organisations outside 
so that they can share lessons learnt in terms of resource management,” Mangal 
ended.
 
 CREP is a sustainable development initiative authorised by the Caribbean Forum 
of African, Caribbean and Pacific States CARIFORUM which is represented by the 
Division of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs in 
Barbados. The Saint Lucia leg of the CREP programme began on Monday September 
15, 2003.
 
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