Over the past week, legislators passed four out of five bills designed to improve the governance of statutory bodies as the House of Assembly addressed its final reform recommendation from …
House tackling last COI reform
The House of Assembly began tackling its final Commission of Inquiry reform this week as legislators debated the first of five bills designed to improve the governance of five statutory …
Soil study to inform land-use decisions
Virgin Islands builders, farmers, landowners and other members of the public will have access to detailed information about the nutrition, microbiology, permeability and vegetation of soil in the territory thanks …
Climate project brings new digital maps
For decades, the National Parks Trust has researched and monitored the Virgin Islands’ natural environment as part of its efforts to manage the territory’s 21 protected parks and identify potential …
Avians of Anegada
One birder called to the others, pointing to a distant dead tree adjacent to Anegada’s runway. To the naked eye, the bird perched there was barely more than a small …
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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Herbarium planned after 3-year study
Scientists from the United Kingdom-based Kew Gardens have completed a three-year study investigating how endangered plant species have managed to survive in certain areas of the Virgin Islands even following …
National Parks Trust gets $200k grant to model climate data
Experts say the Virgin Islands is already feeling the effects of climate change, which includes warming oceans, prolonged droughts, and more intense storms such as the hurricanes of 2017. A …
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35 bird species spotted in Anegada
Birdwatching is easier when you know where to look. Luckily for those on the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count in Anegada on Jan. 5, Rondel Smith Jr. is an expert. …
COI probes SSB appointment process
The board of directors for the Social Security Board was mostly empty for about five months in early 2020, but leaders couldn’t offer a clear explanation for that fact last …
National Parks Trust marks 60 years
What began as a volunteer-led effort to protect the environment in the 1960s grew over the decades into a professionally staffed organisation in charge of managing 21 national parks, restoring …
623 red mangrove seedlings planted across Virgin Islands
Despite heavy rain on Saturday, more than 100 volunteers equipped themselves with waders and gloves, transplanting 632 red mangrove seedlings across the territory. Of those, 204 seedlings were planted in …
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To avoid layoffs, National Parks Trust asks employees to use vacation time during lockdowns
Following media reports of a letter to National Parks Trust employees stating that they will not be paid during any further lockdowns this year, NPT Director Dr. Cassander Titley-O’Neal issued …
National Parks Trust faces threat of closures, layoffs
The loss of revenue from tourists visiting the Virgin Islands has put the National Parks Trust in a position that Director Dr. Cassander Titley-O’Neal never thought possible. Facing a $450,000 …
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JR O’Neal Botanic Gardens open at Arbour Day ceremony
The toppled ficus tree in the J.R. O’Neal Botanic Gardens sits like a giant covered in moss. And yet it is still very much alive, its roots firmly planted in …
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Thousands of Diet Cokes wash ashore on Tortola
Thousands of cans of Diet Coke have washed ashore on the beach near Paraquita Bay, and residents are scratching their heads trying to figure out where they came from and …
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Following the frigates at Great Tobago
It was about 1 a.m. on the island of Great Tobago, and Susan Zaluski was trying to capture a magnificent frigate bird. She stepped gingerly across guano-spattered stones, shining her …