Since 1997, the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), through the Division for Sustainable Development, has been recording successful efforts to implement Agenda 21. The practice is usually to focus on success stories related to Agenda 21 topics currently being discussed at the CSD. However, this year the volume has been entirely dedicated to reports on success stories in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Volume five of the success stories is a special issue that follows the SIDS General assembly Special Session (held in New York in September 1999). It is meant to report on practical measures taken in SIDS to further the implementation of Agenda 21 and the Barbados Programme of Action. The success stories collected are presented to the CSD to help share positive experiences and encourage information-sharing about sustainable development in SIDS. The stories are also posted on this web site. The database is be accessible on the web at the above-mentioned address.

To collect the success stories contained in this volume, the SIDS Unit of the Division for Sustainable Development made a call to governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental groups to submit cases that demonstrated the level and the extent of their involvement in issues related to the Barbados Programme of Action. The commitment demonstrated, the partnerships created and the results achieved acknowledge that sustainable development in SIDS is possible and is happening. Projects and activities have led to tangible results and have involved partnerships among different actors. In general, the stories have a potential for replication elsewhere and the lessons learned are a good source of information for project dissemination and implementation.

Several stories demonstrate that with the necessary technology and political will, SIDS can achieve sustainability. In most of the cases community involvement and participation has been instrumental to the success of the project. Communities not only usually have an extensive knowledge of the problems affecting their territory, but they are also aware of the fact that it is now possible to sustainably use, manage and conserve their natural resources. The text of the stories has been kept as close as possible to the original submissions. Some of the success stories have been supplemented by additional research done by the SIDS Unit.