About MeAdrian O. Watson
Environmental Scientist and Community Development Practitioner M.Sc. Conservation and Land Management, Bangor University (pending 2022) B.Sc. Geography and Zoology, U.W.I. Mona (2012) C.E.O| Honai Beez Apiary Executive Director | Jamaica Environmental Entrepreneurs Advocacy Network Public Relations Officer | Kingston and St. Andrew Bee Farmers Association Block Coordinator | Seaview Gardens Community Development Committee Past National and Projects Coordinator (2014-2019) | Caribbean Youth Environment Network Jamaica Past Projects Events and Competition Coordinator | Commonwealth Youth Climate Network Past Management Committee Member (2015-2019) | Jamaica Organic Agriculture Movement Past Caribbean Representative (2016-2019) | Global Youth Biodiversity Network Past General Legal Counsel (2015) | Junior Chamber International Kingston Past Director (2014) | Junior Chamber International Kingston |
Who Am I |
I am a ordinary Jamaican citizen doing my part to enhance the welfare of my country's development. I do this passionate advocacy especially in the areas of the environment, sustainable development and youth inclusion.
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Brief |
2018 Onwards
“Adrian holds a BSc. in Geography and Zoology from the University of the West Indies at Mona. Currently, Adrian is a Chevening Scholar and is pursuing a Master of Science in Conservation and Land Management at Bangor University in Wales and aspires to significantly transform the Jamaica environmental and conservation sector as he has been working in the area of natural resources management focusing on biodiversity and climate change for the last 10 years. Adrian is pursuing these aspirations whilst continuing his role as the C.E.O for Honai Beez Apiary a small scale social enterprise start-up focused on sustainable beekeeping to combat climate change and beekeeping training of youths from low-income families, wards of the state, and the Executive Director for small think tank social enterprise consortium called Jamaica Environment Entrepreneurs' Advocacy Network (JEEAN) that seeks to aid social enterprises whose aims are to advance climate-smart and nature-based solutions for the goals of biodiversity protection and ecosystems management. This has led him to become a 2020 UNLEASH Fellow, 2020 REAP Agri-Tech Fellow and 2021 YLAI Fellow." Pre-2018 Adrian Watson has been environmental advocate for the last 6 years and grassroots community development worker since he was 14 years old within the his home community of Seaview Gardens. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Geography and Zoology from the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. Adrian has a passion for social and traditional entrepreneurship, environment, agriculture, disaster risk management and climate change. He has played a leadership role in a number of youth organizations and with these experiences was able to co-authored Youth Participation in Small (Island) Developing States of CARICOM with Dr. Terri-Ann Gilbert-Roberts Chair of SALISES Youth 50/50 cluster; published in Ollin’s Youth Participation Index Report 2015-2016. He is the current National Coordinator of the Caribbean Youth Environment Network Jamaica Chapter. Under his watch he has strived fuel the interest and increase environmental awareness, conservation and sustainable environmental use. As National Coordinator Adrian has support of the Flotilla Parade organized by Jamaica Environmental Trust to advocate for keeping the Goat Islands in its natural state and honouring the protected area agreement that was under threat by an agreement between the Jamaican and Chinese Governments to build a logistics hub fuelled by coal powered electric plant. His tenure has also seen Caribbean Youth Environment Network Jamaica contributing to the pre and post conference of the party’s round table talks on climate change for COP 19, 20 and 21 in Jamaica; to prepare the delegates for the events from a youth perspective. He would then go on to secure a partnership with ACDI VOCA on three sub-projects and events under the Jamaica Rural Economy and Ecosystems adapting to Climate Change (JaREEACH) Project funded by USAID. These would include Adrian acting as a climate change facilitator to a group of 26 students at Knox Community College; 16 of which are CYEN members; on the Climate Change Action Agent Training (CCAT) program. The group successfully, with Adrian’s guidance was able to write a rainwater harvesting project for their school’s environmental and agriculture program costing US$7000 to fight drought. ACDI VOCA then invited him as to be a part of the Youth Climate Change Conference Secretariat; as a climate change expert and youth leader under the CYEN banner to help plan this event. He was able to convince them to include a side event specifically for Non-Governmental organization as the main events were solely for High Schools across the island of Jamaica. This partnership saw a CYEN member wining the theme competition and Jamaican $30,000 for the Knox Community College. Through these efforts he was given an award for exceptional youth leader by ACDI VOCA and USAID for his outstanding aid to make the project successful. He has also been featured as trainer in the Jamaica School of Social Entrepreneurship to speak and teach the Climate Change Module as a part their Youth Development Forum as the head of CYEN in Jamaica. The chapter’s membership also benefitted under his watch seeing growth from 5 members to 50 to include rural youths in over 3 districts for the first time in the chapter’s almost 20 year history. |