Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley is right to seek international funding to help the territory adapt to climate change. But if he wants to be taken seriously abroad, he must …
September 30, 2024
May 1, 2024
EDITORIAL: Sargassum is back, and the VI is not prepared
Sargassum is once again arriving on the shores of the Caribbean, but the Virgin Islands is not ready. Given the seaweed’s recent impacts in the territory, this is most unfortunate. …
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April 19, 2024
After 13 years, no end in sight for Caribbean sargassum invasion
Schools evacuated due to toxic gas. Smelly tap water at home. Tourist operators and fishers struggling to stay in business. Job losses. Power outages affecting tens of thousands of people …
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April 19, 2024
Sargassum is wreaking havoc on Caribbean ecosystems
For more than 20 years, Mexican biologist Dr. María del Carmen García Rivas has led a crusade to protect the coral lining the Yucatan Peninsula in the Caribbean Sea. As …
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March 28, 2024
EDITORIAL: Long Bay restoration an example for all beaches
We applaud the ongoing restoration efforts at Long Bay on Beef Island, which are part of a well-conceived management plan designed to repair and protect one of the Virgin Islands’ …
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December 13, 2023
OTs seek climate funding from UK
This month at the 28th Conference of the Parties in Dubai, leaders from the Virgin Islands and other overseas territories opened the door to securing more climate-change funding through the …
September 4, 2023
Coral die-off likely this year
As darkness fell over Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park on Aug. 26, children crowded around a white canvas, picking bright pinks, oranges and greens to fill in the outline …
June 26, 2023
EDITORIAL: Climate board is back, but it will need funding
Kudos to the new government for finally re-appointing the Climate Change Trust Fund Board, which Cabinet unlawfully disbanded in 2019 at the behest of then-Premier Andrew Fahie. Now, leaders must …
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June 18, 2023
Four years later, climate board is back
Less than two months after then-Premier Andrew Fahie’s Virgin Islands Party government came to power in February 2019, the Cabinet unlawfully revoked the membership of the VI Climate Change Trust …
May 23, 2023
New environment ministry created
While detailing his recent efforts to shore up relations with the United Kingdom during a May 16 press conference, Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley also announced the creation of the …
May 12, 2023
At dumpsite, ministers promise better, but incinerator still down
Seven days before the general election, Dr. Karl Dawson stood outside the House of Assembly to protest burning at the Pockwood Pond dump that had been sending clouds of acrid …
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May 9, 2023
EDITORIAL: Rebranded ministry a double-edged sword
We see a step forward and a step backward in the new government’s decision to replace the former Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour with the rebranded Ministry of Financial …
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March 8, 2023
EDITORIAL: Don’t fear the Virgin Islands tree boa
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Just like all snake species that live in the territory, the Virgin Islands tree boa is completely harmless. In fact, it …
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November 1, 2022
EDITORIAL: Cross-agency strategy needed for sargassum
We are impressed by the innovative plan to use drones to track the increasing amount of sargassum washing up on the territory’s shores. However, the growing problem also needs a …
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October 21, 2022
Community plans for Long Bay’s future
Long Bay Beach on Beef Island serves a different purpose to every visitor. Some enjoy exercising, cooking out, snorkelling among the corals, swimming, participating in water sports, visiting as tourists, …
October 4, 2022
Volunteers clean up 8,828 feet of coastline
Volunteers across the territory joined in a belated observance of International Coastal Cleanup Day last weekend, clearing piles of waste from shorelines at Salt Island; Spring Bay on Virgin Gorda; …
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August 29, 2022
EDITORIAL: Gov’t right to apologise and re-form climate board
It’s about time. More than three years ago, then-Premier Andrew Fahie’s newly elected government unlawfully disbanded the Climate Change Trust Fund Board, stalling years of hard work and showing a …
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August 18, 2022
Ghost busters: Discarded tackle cleaned up
A boat full of volunteers recently travelled from Tortola to the south side of Cooper Island, where they combed the sargassum-covered rocky shore for waste that had washed up on …
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April 19, 2022
EDITORIAL: Beach plans are a welcome step
Kudos to the government for finally starting work on a series of management plans for the territory’s beaches. These long-needed strategies can’t come soon enough. The importance of the Virgin …
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February 9, 2022
EDITORIAL: The Virgin Islands must save the mangroves
The importance of mangroves and other wetlands has been well known for more than half a century. The delicate ecosystems offer habitat for birds and marine life; they naturally prevent …
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January 28, 2022
Mangrove destruction leaves VI ever more vulnerable to climate change
When Donald De Castro was a boy in the 1940s, mangroves lined the shore and cays in front of his family’s small waterfront home in Road Town. “We used to …
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January 19, 2022
EDITORIAL: Please read, comment on draft national plan
For too long, the Virgin Islands has suffered from a failure to plan for the long term. The result can be seen in shoddy infrastructure, ill-conceived public projects, struggling schools, …
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December 1, 2021
Self-determination discussed at UK meetings
Fresh off their diplomatic travels to Europe last month, government leaders explained their progress on planning for the future of environmental management, national security, marijuana legalisation, and greater self-determination. During …
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November 25, 2021
Climate a focus as JMC wound down
At the conclusion of the Joint Ministerial Council meeting in London last week, Prince William made an appearance as world leaders turned their attention to how climate change is impacting …
November 19, 2021
UK-VI relations raised in London
At the first in-person Joint Ministerial Council meeting since 2019, Premier Andrew Fahie is in discussions with United Kingdom leaders this week about sustainable development, Covid-19, UK relations, economic resilience, …
