Capacity building in the Caribbean
On 1st April 2005, a three-year collaborative project was started to protect Dominica’s amphibians from the disease threat posed by chytridiomycosis.
Construction nearing completion - October 2005 This work involves the Forestry and Wildlife Division and the Veterinary Services Division of the Dominican Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and other international conservation organisations including Chester Zoo, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Fauna and Flora International. This project is being funded by the UK Government’s Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species.
This project’s aim is to build capacity within the Caribbean region to mitigate and protect against the actual and potential impacts of the emerging infectious disease, chytridiomycosis, on wild amphibian populations, including rare and endemic species.
This will involve the development of captive breeding and rapid diagnostic and surveillance technology on the island of Dominica, which appears to be the first and only Caribbean State to have been affected by chytridiomycosis so far. Construction of a molecular laboratory is currently underway and our target is for this facility to be fully functional by the end of 2005.
Laboratory building complete - November 2005 In the first year, emphasis will also be given to raising the media profile of the disease threat to Caribbean amphibians and providing information on how people can assist this conservation project on Dominica.
Over the course of the project, a Management Plan will be produced collaboratively with Dominica and other Caribbean States to minimise the risk of spread of the disease and to mitigate against it should it do so. The expertise developed within Dominica will be made accessible to, and distributed amongst, other Caribbean islands at risk.