Bio-diversity

The main economic activities of Rodrigues are agriculture and fishing. Rodrigues, since its autonomy in 2002, plans to further promote itself as an Organic Production island. The island has a rich heritage of traditional food items, which can be produced and marketed with an organic label.Development of a sustainable agricultural industry in Rodrigues is highly dependent on having a rich soil base. Overgrazing and the topography of Rodrigues have led to significant land degradation in several regions. Sustainable land management is nowadays one of the main priorities of island states and most particularly Rodrigues which has a high level of soil erosion. Combating land degradation has also been emphasized in the recently launched project on Integrated Development Plan for Rodrigues (SIDPR). Sustainable land management is highly dependent on sustaining the soil. This can be achieved by continuously replenishing the soil with natural organic matter, which can be obtained with compost. Composting would produce a material rich in nutrients, micro-organisms and organic matter which will nourish poor and nutrient depleted soils where crops have been planted on a continuous basis. It has been noted with past experiments at Rodrigues, (UNDP GEF/SGP Riviere Banane project) that compost application has led to a reduction in irrigation and fertilizer usage. A project on Sustainable Agricultural Technologies has been carried out with a community of farmers of Riviere-Banane in 1999 whereby around 85 farmers were trained on compost making and its utilisation in view of using compost as a substitute to chemical fertilizers in their fields. The project had shown promising results whereby farmers had successfully produced compost of good quality and were effectively using it in their fields to boost yields of vegetables and enhance the soil quality. It is being proposed to enlarge the scope of compost making at national level by building capacity in that area with a train the trainers program and conducting demonstration composting trials. This would lead to knowledge management and sharing as well as bigger impact of the first project in Rodrigues. This project consists in building capacity in recycling organic wastes, compost making and utilization on an island-wide basis in Rodrigues. The overall objective is to train farmers to produce their own composts to be used in agricultural practices in view of addressing sustainable land management practices to achieve global environmental benefits. The overall objective of the project is to promote safe afgricutltual practices, promote the production of biovegetables in Rodrigues, boost the yields of farmers and thereby increase their income and address land management in a sustainable manner. Secondary objectives include recycling of organic wastes, producing a safe compost of good quality and applying compost produced on vegetables in view of reducing usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.This project is thematically linked with other UNDP GEF/SGP projects for the safe treatment of animal wastes using the composting technology. At least two other projects of composting of chicken waste and cattle manure have been completed successfully in the past using different types of composting technology with community of planters at Belle Mare in Mauritius and Riviere Banane in Rodrigues. The characteristics of the animal wastes will be fully identified. Three pilot composters will be set up and composting parameters ill be monitored. A protocol will then be devised to ensure a good quality of compost is being produced. 200 composters will be constructed and commissioned. The farmers will then compost animal wastes and amendment. The compost produced will then be used in agricultural fields and also as a soil conditioner. A seminar will be held at the end of the project to present the key outcomes. A report based on the experience gained in Capacity building and Community-wide Composting will be produced for dissemination. By the end of the project, it is expected that training of 200 farmers in river valleys on recycling animal wastes and using compost be completed. Compost produced will be used in vegetable plantations and will have reduced the use of chemical fertilisers as the compost will provide the nutrients to fertilize plant growth The farmers will be trained in compost making from animal wastes The risk of contaminating surface and ground water will be lowered A natural soil conditioner will be provided and sustainable land management practices will be adopted.

Mauritius