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Current AffairsRape of the Sea ForestMan-made crisis threatens Black Britain's Caribbean Homelands
A Caribbean without its sun-kissed coral reefs, clear blue waters and palm-lined beaches? Unthinkable, you say. But there can be no confidence about the future. Caribbean coral reefs are a spectacular and crucial resource. They are nurseries for myriad aquatic species; sources of food and tourists' delight. They protect the coasts from rising sea levels due to global warming and climate change. Yet, we stand on the edge of a cataclysm, says eco-activist Eric Huntley of the Caribbean Environment Watch group. "It is our own abuse of nature that is the root cause of the environmental crisis in the Caribbean".
Imagine the impact of mammoth cruise ships, coastal hotels, gambling casinos and marinas on the fragile eco-system. Yachting tourists to Sandy Islands marina, the harbour entry of Carriacou, Grenada, have carelessly damaged the reefs as they drop anchor and dive for coral souvenirs. Garbage from decades of visitors has had a deleterious effect. Charlotte Amalie in the US Virgin Islands, with its 50,000 population, is awash with untreated sewage and garbage generated by 2 million tourists each year. There are other man-made eco-horrors, too, say campaigning Friends of the Earth. Unglamorous industries such as sand mining, oil drilling, waste disposal and dredging are major offenders. United Nations observers confirm that highly toxic chemicals used in the export coffee, banana and sugar cane and rum trade add millions of tons to the lethal cocktail poisoning the coral polyps. Even the increased sea traffic in the region adds its threats of oil spillage and waste tipping. The increasing militarisation of the high seas also poses environmental problems, Senator Anthony Johnson told the Jamaican Senate. And, as Huntley points out, over-fishing and illegal trawling by fishing boats compounds these problems because they take away the fish that would otherwise eat the algae and keep their growth in check. Effects Across the Caribbean Sea, St Lucia's much-fabled reefs show the same pattern. Half have been lost since the early 1970s. The Boca Reef in Tobago, one of the southerly islands just off the Venezuelan coast, is also in dire straits. There are genuine grounds for claiming that this destruction is a man-made environmental crisis of alarming proportions, according to a report by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Unit of the United Nations Environment Programme.
Political and institutional factors are part of the problem. West Indian politicians remain unwilling to move on pollution issues. There are few serious campaigns to control coral reef destruction. Anti-pollution measures are inadequate in many islands. Experts say their reports and recommendations are rarely heeded. Disregard of eco-disaster warnings from development planners is another disturbing trend. Savarin McKenzie, chairman of the Development Planning Corporation in Dominica, says both private and government property developers fail to meet the authority's environmental guidelines. He has accused politicians of failing to give due consideration to the perils of bad land use practices and wayward garbage disposal, according to a report in the Caribbean News Section of the Voice, the London-based black newspaper. Evidence shows that cash-poor governments continually faced with national bankruptcy are not the best protectors of the region's environment. Almost every country has massive debts and trade deficits. Most of the smaller island states are among the world's poorest. Legal and moral systems are unable to provide appropriate restraints on polluting activities. Divided
pressures Caribbean governments do not rank the horrors of man made pollution high on their agendas.The prevailing view, says Huntley, seems to be 'we can't do a lot to curb polluters'. Governments are also unwilling to accept the economic and political costs of implementing pollution control and cleaning up the detritus of development.
But, treating the sea forest as a jumbo resource to be plundered by all is no solution. Environmentalists say politicians must not accept that the loss of the coral reefs is "an inevitable consequence of development". Action
guide We know that Caribbeans in London show a high level of awareness about urban environmental issues. They are concerned especially about traffic congestion, air pollution from carbon dioxide emissions, waste tips and litter, poor working conditions, and obsolescent dwellings. This is confirmed by a report of Friends of the Earth. But efforts will have to be made to encourage their full participation in saving the habitat and heritage of their homelands. Environmentalist groups in the Caribbean welcome support, these include the Jamaican Friends of the Sea, the St Lucia National Trust, the Dominican Conservation Association, and the Amerindian Peoples Association of Guyana. The United Nations Environmental Programme, based regionally in Jamaica, has been at work for the last thirty years. Specific proposals must be introduced by citizen's groups and experts, implemented by parliamentarians and law bodies, and agreed by business, industry, shipping, airlines and tourist organisations. For example:
Sustaining
life and heritage The health of one of the richest and most beautiful habitats in the world is at stake, Huntley suggests. And this is not just a hollow phrase. The sea forests are truly living organisms, part of the whole eco-system that sustains human life. The prescription for change is clear. Buccaneering, "don't care", habitat-harming activities must stop. Throwaway, tourist-driven practices must be replaced. Sound ecological principles must be introduced to safeguard the livelihood and heritage of future generations of Caribbean peoples.
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