The Biodiversity Conservation and Agroecological Land Restoration in Productive Landscapes of Trinidad and Tobago (BIOREACH) Project is a 4 year initiative aimed at conserving local biodiversity, restoring degraded landscapes and improving the livelihoods of rural communities throughout Trinidad and Tobago Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and led by the Ministry of Planning and Development, BIOREACH is implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN). The project is executed through the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) and the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (NAMDEVCO).

BIOREACH seeks to address the threat to Trinidad and Tobago’s biodiversity and productive landscapes from issues of human encroachment, illegal occupation of land, forest fires, and unsustainable livelihood practices. The biodiversity of Trinidad and Tobago plays an important role in the provision of ecosystem services that support human well-being, such as in the provision of freshwater, flood regulation/erosion control, tourism/ecotourism, recreation, shoreline protection (mangroves, coral reefs and seagrasses), nutrient cycling, pollination, and the provision of food.

The depletion of biodiversity and land degradation reduce people’s access to productive landscapes and ecosystem services which has both direct and indirect impacts on livelihoods, health and agriculture production, thereby creating a negative feedback loop. This project seeks to disrupt the negative cycle with a virtuous one, through restoration of landscapes, effective land use planning and the proliferation of sustainably cultivated, green value chains resulting in increased, resilient and more diverse livelihood opportunities.