Dominica has secured a significant victory by being chosen to host the Caribbean Youth Forum on Environment and Development (CARYFED) in August 2024. This year’s CARYFED theme is ‘Sustainable Eco-Tourism in the Caribbean,’ perfectly aligning with Dominica’s renowned ecotourism offerings, including its extensive national parks system. As the home of the UNESCO World Heritage site, Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica is ideally suited to host this prestigious event.
Dominica’s ecotourism is bolstered by its innovative Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme, which aids the island in achieving its climate-resilience goals. CARYFED is part of the Project Discovery Dominica initiative, aiming to facilitate the holistic development of pre-university students. The project’s mission is to bridge academic growth with community service, enhancing students’ global awareness, cultural literacy, civic engagement, and responsiveness to others’ needs.
The project is a collaborative effort involving Barbados, Grenada, Dominica, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and St. Kitts and Nevis. Following its debut participation in Trinidad and Tobago last year, Dominica will host this year’s events from August 7 to August 17. When speaking with Dominica News Online, CARYFED Administrator Beverly Leblanc noted that this event ‘is a big thing for us because we only participated last year and now, we are hosting this year.’ “Everybody that will be coming to Dominica will be coming for the first time, so that is basically a very good thing for our tourism product,’ she added.
