Expert Corner: Mia Persad-Douglas on the Crucial Role of Stakeholders in Safeguarding the Environment

Could you describe the main goals and objectives of the BES Solution Fund? 

Protecting biodiversity and helping people understand ecosystem services is very important. A lot of times, we take for granted what nature does for us and we don’t value and appreciate it. Bringing that awareness and sharing information on how that is valuable to us as humans is very important. 

Can you comment on the implementation of the BES Solution Fund in Trinidad and Tobago?

We've been working with BES-Net on a couple of implementation/outreach things. BES-Net has been really helpful for us in terms of showing us that the actions we have as stakeholders, as beekeepers and as part of the sub-sector of agriculture can be important in protecting biodiversity and facilitating the ecosystem services that bees and other pollinators provide. We've been part of the outreach and education activities under the BES-Net program. World Bee Day was a big outreach activity for us as a society, and BES-Net partnered with us in delivering some of that education and outreach to our high school students and the general public and children groups throughout that process. 

In the face of challenges, what message of hope and motivation would you like to share? 

As long as there are people like us working together to move action forward and willing to continue to talk and share with each other and come to the same table together, there continues to be hope. So, don't give up.