The Virgin Islands is charting a way forward to work in collaboration with the world’s largest marine studies institute to better understand the natural resources of its waters. Natural Resources and Labour Minister Mitch Turnbull recently offered more details about a partnership between the VI government and the United Kingdom-based University of Southampton, with which Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley signed a memorandum of understanding on Jan. 19.
The territory stands to benefit from the expertise of the university’s Marine and Maritime Institute in everything from naval architecture to social sciences over the five-year partnership, Mr. Turnbull explained last Thursday in the House of Assembly.
Dr. Wheatley said at the signing that collecting marine geospatial data is “vital to supporting sustainable economic growth and protecting communities from the effects of climate change.”
Plans include joint activities like seminars and conferences on areas of mutual interest; opportunities for faculty and school members to visit one another to pursue research; joint research projects; working collaboratively on joint research funding applications; and identifying commercial applications for marine technology.
‘Blue economy’
“This partnership creates opportunities to help secure the BVI tourism product, our overall quality of life, and the success of the blue economy for generations to come,” Mr. Turnbull said, adding, “We are a small island developing state with the opportunity to develop existing ocean-based sectors such as fisheries and tourism, as well as create new sectors, but are now much more empowered to do so while still ensuring our ocean’s sustainable use.”