Island profiles a valuable resource
The environmental profiles being created by the Island Resources Foundation will be invaluable if the territory’s policymakers and planners use them wisely.
Since it was founded in 1972, the IRF has profiled several Caribbean countries and territories, many of which hitherto had access to very limited information about their own environmental resources.
In 2009, the United States-based organisation worked with the Jost Van Dykes Preservation Society to complete a profile of JVD and the surrounding islands. The 135-page document, which was a collaboration between residents and visiting scientists, makes for interesting reading: It provides a general overview of the islands’ environment, society, history and traditions, as well as broad recommendations for the future.
Now, similar profiles are under way for Virgin Gorda and Anegada.
Such profiles are useful in their own right, and they should be required reading in schools. They also include precisely the sort of information that the territory needs as it plans for the future.
Though planning has never been the VI’s strong suit, we have noticed signs of positive change in this regard, and the profiles should help immensely by providing information on the resources at stake.
So far, we are pleased to note, the IRF’s work has been a collaborative effort, with funding and support from various sources: the government, the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Overseas Territories Environment Programme, non-profit organisations, businesses and private donors.
We hope such assistance will continue as the IRF works toward the next step: completing a profile of Tortola, which will be its largest VI undertaking because of the island’s size and population.
If the completed profiles are to be maximally beneficial in the future, however, leaders must consult them on a regular basis. Used properly, they could be an important tool in helping guide the territory toward sustainability at this critical time in its development.