Abstract

The Caribbean includes 15 Regions (OR) and territories (OCT) of the European Union overseas , politically attached to United Kingdom, France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Those entities strongly contribute to the Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot with a rich biodiversity and a high number of endemic species They are home to 92 Key Biodiversity Areas, covering an area of 8090 km² and 43 ecological marine and terrestrial corridors , as identified and mapped by the BEST Caribbean Hub through during its Ecosystem profiling work. EU Overseas are thus key actors for the implementation of international and regional conservation targets and to foster Caribbean cooperation In this context and to address the seri-ous threats faced by this exceptionally diverse territories, the European Parliament launched in 2010 the BEST initiative – Funding scheme for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Territories of European Overseas – to support the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of ecosystem services including ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adapta-tion and mitigation in the EU ORs and OCTs. In line with this objective, the BEST 2.0 Programme, an innovative funding facility for small-scale and medium-scale field actions , seeks to enable, empower and strengthen local authorities and civil society organisations in the OCTs. We here propose to provide an overview of the BEST initiative and long term invest-ment strategy, as well as to introduce 4 Caribbean BEST 2.0 Medium Grant awarded projects, the first results from 2016 Small Grants call and the up-coming 2017 BEST 2.0 Small Grants opportunity.

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