By 2030, Dominica aims to maintain and enhance ecosystem services that underpin water security, disaster risk reduction, coastal protection and livelihoods, integrating their values into sector planning and investment decisions. The target promotes the protection, restoration and sustainable management of ecosystems that provide these benefits. It recognises the connections between forests, watersheds, rivers, agricultural landscapes and coastal and marine environments, and their contributions to food security, resilience and well-being. Planning and investment will consider ecological, economic, social and cultural values, including benefits that cannot readily be expressed in monetary terms.

Dominica aims to establish a coordinated framework for identifying, mapping and assessing priority ecosystem services and incorporating this information into planning, budgeting and investment decisions. Assessments will consider ecosystem condition, community dependence, and the benefits and potential losses associated with different development options. Priority actions include protecting and restoring watersheds, water catchments, riparian buffers, wetlands and forested slopes to support water regulation, soil stability and disaster risk reduction. Coastal and marine measures will maintain and restore natural buffers, reduce land-based pressures and integrate ecosystem-based protection into coastal planning. Sector guidance and investment appraisal tools will help assess dependencies, impacts and trade-offs involving ecosystem services. Economic valuation and natural capital accounting will be complemented by participatory approaches that recognise local knowledge and non-monetary values. Shared information systems, clear responsibilities and regular monitoring will support practical application. Implementation will involve communities in identifying priorities, managing ecosystems and assessing how benefits are distributed.

Access to financial resources: Implementation requires sustained financing for ecosystem protection and restoration, valuation, monitoring and the integration of ecosystem-service information into investment decisions.

Biodiversity and health: Healthy ecosystems support clean water, food security, reduced exposure to natural hazards and community well-being.

Collective effort towards the targets: The target promotes shared responsibility across public institutions, businesses, resource users and communities for maintaining ecosystem services.

Consistency with international agreements or instruments: Implementation supports coherence between biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, disaster risk reduction and sustainable development objectives.

Contribution and rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities: Planning will recognise the rights, knowledge, customary uses and priorities of the Kalinago people and local communities, supporting meaningful participation and equitable access to benefits.

Cooperation and synergies: The target connects ecosystem management with water security, climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, sustainable production and livelihoods.

Different value systems: Assessments will recognise ecological, economic, social, cultural and spiritual values, using both valuation tools and participatory methods.

Ecosystem approach: Measures will address the connections between terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems and the functions that sustain their services.

Formal and informal education: Training and public awareness will help decision-makers and communities understand ecosystem benefits and apply this knowledge to planning and management.

Gender: Implementation will consider differences in ecosystem dependence, access, responsibilities and benefits, promoting equitable participation in decisions and investments.

Human rights-based approach: Measures will support access to information, meaningful participation and equitable benefits, with accessible channels for raising concerns and attention to communities facing greater environmental risks.

Intergenerational equity: Maintaining ecosystem functions and services will help safeguard natural resources, resilience and livelihood opportunities for future generations.

National circumstances, priorities and capabilities: Implementation reflects Dominica’s steep watersheds, high rainfall, disaster exposure and reliance on natural systems for water, coastal protection and livelihoods.

Principles of the Rio Declaration: Prevention, precaution, environmental assessment, public participation and polluter responsibility will guide the integration of ecosystem services into development decisions.

Right to development: The target supports resilient development by maintaining the natural systems that underpin essential services, economic activity and community well-being.

Science and innovation: Ecosystem mapping, valuation, natural capital accounting and environmental monitoring will inform priorities and assess investment outcomes.

Whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach: Implementation promotes coordination across sectors and inclusive participation, including engagement with the Kalinago people and local communities in planning, stewardship and monitoring.

National Target 11 addresses the central purpose of GBF Target 11 by maintaining and enhancing ecosystem services that benefit people. It prioritises water security, disaster risk reduction, coastal protection and livelihoods, while integrating ecosystem-service values into sector planning and investment decisions. The proposed protection, restoration and management measures support ecosystem functions and nature’s contributions to people. Further development of implementation arrangements can make explicit the use of Nature-based Solutions and ecosystem-based approaches, restoration of degraded services, and attention to other relevant services such as soil health, pollination and climate regulation. These elements are not all explicit in the target title; however, this does not imply their exclusion. Monitoring can clarify how ecosystem condition, service provision and access to benefits will be assessed, including whether improvements reach communities most dependent on these services.

No formal non-State actor commitments have been identified towards this national target. Opportunities for voluntary contributions and partnerships can be further developed during implementation.

Additional financing, technical assistance and institutional capacity are needed to map and assess priority ecosystem services, establish reliable baselines and apply ecosystem-service information in sector planning and investment appraisal. Priorities include practical valuation methods, natural capital accounting, shared data systems and guidance that captures both monetary and non-monetary values. Sustained investment is also needed for watershed and coastal protection, ecosystem restoration and community stewardship. Training and coordination will support implementation, while monitoring will track ecosystem condition, service provision and livelihood benefits. Planning will need to account for data limitations, technical capacity, financing constraints and competing development and recovery priorities.