Pclcc which is an active volcano of l,397mctrcs, Lacroix Peak at 1188 meters and Mount Vauclin at 50 I meters. The relief of the island has led to a complex drainage pattern, characterized by short watercourses, with some mangroves and estuaries. In the south, the Salce and the Pilote rivers tlow ti·om Mount Vauclin. In the center, the rivers tlow outwards fi·om the Cat·bct Mountains, including the Lorrain, Galion, Capot, and Lczardc rivers. In the north, the Grande River, the Ccron, the Roxclanc, the Peres, and the Scchc ilTcgular torrents. Sl Lucia is the most mountainous Caribbean island, with the highest peak being Mount Gimic, at 950 meters. Rivers include the Rosscau, Cui de Sac and Troumassc. St. Vincelll is a rugged volcanic island. La Sout1·icrc is the highest peak at 1178 meters, and dominates the northern third of the island. Very little of the island is tlat, the Central and Southern sections of the island fall sharply from the 300 to 600 meter mountains to the sea. Grenada is a rolling, mountainous and volcano island with several small rivers and watcrti:Jlls, rainforests including Mount St. Catherine at 835 meters, a wetland system and the volcanic lakes ofLcvcra Pond and Antoine Lake. The diverse marine, terrestrial and freshwater habitats and species of the region arc closely linked to the local human communities. Human well being relics upon diverse ecosystem services, such as buftcring coastal communities li"om the effects of storms, freshwater, growing and harvesting food, providing a basis tor recreational and tourism industries in addition to providing habitat for commercial species. VULNERABILITY AND THREATS Heightening human pressures in the region arc thought to be putting the biodiversity of the region under unprecedented stress. Activities include cruise ship tourism, terrestrial and marine tourism and their associated inti·astructurcs, hydropower dams and reservoirs, canalization, freshwater withdrawals, road building, agriculture, over-fishing, introduction of alien species, sand and bedrock mining, discharge of untreated sewage and industrial waters, intensive agrochcmicals usc, aquaculture, overharvesting, population growth, urban sprawl and resource extraction. These activities can lead to changes in ecological systems such as habitat fi·agmentation, degradation and loss, invasive species, hyrdrological regime change, degraded water quality, pollutant release, sedimentation, ecosystem service degradation and the resulting cftccts on local human communities. The cumulative impacts of all these influences on biodiversity arc largely unknown. The complex mix of political and social tbctors exacerbates these problems and results in the Caribbean being one of the world's most threatened places. The strategies necessary to balance sustaining the livelihoods of people and the growth of economics with the need to reduce threats and protect remaining biodiversity arc complex and interrelated. Deciding how and where to act in the face of multiple, imminent tlu·cats is an increasing challenge. It is hoped the data on many of these tlu·cats in addition to conservation targets and tools contained within the Caribbean decision support system (Appendix H) will greatly facilitate actions to meet these challenges. II - 14-