Flooding from rising sea levels endangers people, infrastructure, and agriculture across Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nations, including Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and St Lucia. Scientists from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) were among an international delegation visiting Guyana last week, at the start of a four-year project to reduce these flooding impacts on coastal communities in the region.
Taking a collaborative approach, the project will explore the relationships between land, freshwater and coastal systems and flood-affected communities. It will support improved policy and management, and provide decision support tools to help reduce social, economic, and environmental damages from climate change.
Among the outputs will be a flood resilience framework, including a co-developed risk hazard model. This will boost flood prediction capabilities, and provide new insights into impacts on local livelihoods and food security, ultimately strengthening the ability of communities, agencies, and research institutions across CARICOM to respond to future change.
During their visit, the delegation, comprising experts from McGill University (Canada), the University of Louisiana (US), Imperial College London (UK), as well as UKCEH, met with the Prime Minister of Guyana, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, British High Commission, University of Guyana, government agencies including the Civil Defence Commission, and community leaders.
The project is funded by the New Frontiers for Research Fund of Canada, the US National Science Foundation, and UK Research and Innovation, highlighting a strong collaborative effort across nations to tackle the shared challenges posed by climate change.
UKCEH project lead Angus Garbutt said: “We're delighted to be part of this innovative project working with our Guyanian and international partners to improve resilience to freshwater and coastal flooding in the face of multiple challenges.”
Flooding in Guyana
Guyana is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels from climate change. According to the World Bank, 100 percent of Guyana's coastal agriculture and 66 percent of its coastal urban areas are at risk from flooding and erosion. The country has suffered major floods numerous times in the past two decades.
