 The forest and water resources sustain human life and the environment. It connects people, cultures and economies. They are also essential to achieve the millennium development goals and other internationally agreed development goals such as the integration of the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources. It is against this backdrop that the Department of Forestry is embarking on a year-long campaign to push actions associated with the theme for World Forest Day and World Water Day 2022, sustainable production and consumption, two areas of national development that are closely related. Deputy Chief Forestry Officer Rebecca Rock, in explaining the overall objective of the joint observance, says the goal of this year's roadshow was to showcase the importance of forests and water to the livelihoods of St. Lucian's. We're not talking just bush. We look at things like carbon sequestration. We're looking at climate change because forests are the low-hanging fruit when it comes to climate change. The more trees we have, the more carbon we sequester. The more forests we have, the more water we save. So this is why we're going around just reminding people that forests are important. It's not just bush. It's not that we just cut it down. We just want to conserve our forests to make our livelihoods in St. Lucian better. As seen in the increasing cycles of floods, devastating hurricanes and unbearable drought periods, forest and water resources have the power to destroy lives and livelihoods, and climate change is expected to exacerbate these already disastrous events. The recent economic and financial crisis seen worldwide must also be acknowledged, and the consequences of the crisis on integrated forest and water resource management and services must be addressed as soon as possible. National Project Coordinator for the Jeff South East Coast Project, John Calyxt, says these awareness-raising initiatives align with the project's mandate of ensuring the sustainable management of the forest to combat climate change and to contribute to the prosperity and well-being of current and future generations. Essentially, one of the objectives of our project is to restore and maintain ecosystems in the southeast coast. So it should include marine and terrestrial ecosystems, so water and also forests. So for us, it has also been able to provide information and awareness of our marine and terrestrial ecosystems. So it's very significant for us to support the Department of Forestry on the tour today, because it helps us to put out the message of the importance of the forest and of water to our constituents in the southeast coast, but also St. Lucia. In order to address global forest issues and adapt water management strategies to global changes, the Department of Forestry remains committed to developing new policies, adaption strategies, institutional reforms with the active participation of local elected administrations and water users, international commitments, financial mechanisms, technology, and innovation. From the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, I am Anicia Antoine reporting.