To support Antigua and Barbuda’s biodiversity conservation and sustainable development targets, the “Biodiversity is our Business” Valuing Ecosystem Services for Biodiversity Protection in Antigua & Barbuda project was initiated in June 2016. The project objectives were to integrate information on the value of biodiversity and other relevant spatial and socio-economic data into decision-making in business, policy, and at the community level. It also aims to catalyse national support for biodiversity protection, and eventually a possible payment for ecosystem services scheme through the national environmental fund (SIRF Fund/MEPA Trust) with implementing partner Marine Ecosystems Protected Ares Trust (MEPA Trust), together with the Ministry of Environment.

The project was officially closed in April 2018, due to unforeseen circumstances, before all the activities could be implemented. As a result, overall project impacts could not be measured.

The impacts from several activities, however, have been noticeable; for instance, the involvement of the Department of Environment’s Geographic Information System (GIS) unit, and their efforts to geo-reference relevant data will facilitate future efforts to create scenarios for biodiversity-friendly land use planning. Furthermore, stakeholders were informed about the process and potential of conducting a valuation study on the island, providing them with an opportunity to learn, discuss, and to agree on the most pressing threats to ecosystem services on the island as well as possible remedies. Although the project was terminated before the valuation exercise was implemented, the understanding and agreement that was achieved provides a basis for further efforts to raise awareness on the values of biodiversity on the island. The local project team embarked on a broad communications effort discussing biodiversity and its values using various channels and with different stakeholders. While the impact of this effort cannot yet be measured precisely, the local project team reported anecdotal evidence of newspaper articles and local citizens speaking about the importance of conserving biodiversity.