Earth Today | EFJ eyes proven regional strategies to tackle environmental challenges

JAMAICA MAY not have to look very far for solutions to some of its biggest environmental challenges. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, countries are already testing innovative approaches to protecting natural resources, strengthening conservation institutions and making environmental programmes more sustainable.

The Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ) is exploring how some of those experiences could help shape Jamaica’s own environmental conservation efforts. The opportunities emerged from the 2026 Congress of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds (RedLAC), attended by EFJ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nicole Adamson and Technical Director Shernette Sampson.

For Adamson, the gathering reinforced an important lesson: while countries face different environmental realities, many of the challenges confronting conservation organisations are remarkably similar.

“What stood out was the recognition that, despite differences across countries, environmental funds throughout the region face many similar challenges, creating valuable opportunities for collaboration, shared learning and collective solutions,” the CEO said.

Those common challenges include securing sustainable financing, strengthening conservation programmes, and ensuring that environmental initiatives continue delivering results long after initial project funding ends.

One example that particularly impressed the EFJ technical director was Bolivia’s Fundación para el Desarrollo del Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (FUNDESNAP). The environmental fund has transferred an estimated US$18 million over the past two decades to support the management of protected areas and maintain local conservation wardens. FUNDESNAP has also developed mechanisms to channel private sector corporate social responsibility resources into conservation and sustainable economic activities.

For Sampson, the approach offers practical lessons for Jamaica.

“With a similar track record spanning over three decades in environmental conservation, the EFJ, particularly through its five-year Jamaica Urban Solutions for the Environment (J-USE) initiative, funded by Global Affairs Canada, is uniquely positioned to adopt elements of the FUNDESNAP model,” she said.

“Additionally, a central pillar of J-USE is building a sustainable funding mechanism to leverage public and private resources in Nature-Based Climate Solutions (NbCS). EFJ can apply key components of FUNDESNAP’s approach by designing structured environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment frameworks that attract long-term private sector capital to conservation efforts,” Sampson added.

But learning from regional experiences goes beyond adopting new financing models. Adamson believes the relationships developed through RedLAC could help the EFJ strengthen its institutional capacity and create new opportunities for collaboration.

“We have made important connections with other environmental funds that we can build upon, and have identified potential partnerships with development institutions, to help us adapt innovative financing approaches to Jamaica’s circumstances,” she explained.

Sampson also highlighted the importance of learning from regional approaches that recognise indigenous peoples and local communities as central to successful conservation.

“The central mantra showcased at RedLAC 2026 underscores that local communities are not mere beneficiaries, but the primary architects of conservation,” she said.

These experiences offer lessons for strengthening the technical capacity of Jamaican grassroots organisations and helping them develop more effective conservation initiatives.

For Adamson, the challenge now is ensuring that international exchanges produce meaningful improvements at home. She believes environmental funds must become more strategic in developing partnerships, preparing projects and connecting available resources with environmental needs.

“That means identifying which approaches can realistically work within Jamaica’s environmental, social and economic circumstances,” she said.