This week, large numbers of Anguillian schoolchildren have been streaming into the Anguilla Public Library to view the OECS four-day exhibition on climate change, and to hear some of the methods that can safeguard and sustain the island’s important environment.
Anguilla may have been lucky to have had this exhibition as it appears to be occasioned only by the fact that it was an offshoot of the Twenty-first Meeting of the OECS Technical Advisory Committee on one hand, and of the Seventeenth Meeting of the OECS Ministers of the Environment and Sustainable Development on the other. It is a pity that the Rallying the Region to Action Projection Climate Change (RRACC), a joint effort by the OECS Secretariat and the United States Agency for International Development, only benefits six independent states in the Eastern Caribbean, as stated in the project document. There has been no mention of the rest of the islands holding membership in the OECS sub-region grouping.
To be fair, the document states that this is only phase one of the project. But it has not been explained whether phase two will include islands like Anguilla, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands which, like the other neighbouring territories, have similar issues of climate change; or whether they will just be appendages to those independent
islands to receive some of the crumbs falling from the table. The project, which was launched in July 2011, has an initial budget of 2.5 million US dollars – with the potential to receive a further 8 million US dollars over the life of the project which will conclude on September 30, 2015.
For the benefit of readers, the joint RRACC initiative for the independent states of Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines and St Kitts and Nevis, will help them to improve their national plans, policies and laws to better address the impacts of Climate Change on their economic sectors of agriculture and tourism; minimise the effects of Climate Change by improving coastal and freshwater resources management; work with existing institutions (like water utility companies, farming and fishing cooperatives) to become more capable and informed about how to deal with Climate Change and its effects; and inform the general public about Climate Change, its effects and how to rally, rethink and respond to it.Those are certainly some of the benefits which our non-independent islands and British Overseas Territories, not included in the project, can do well with.
The OECS press release, about the meeting in Anguilla of the Ministers of Environment and Sustainable Development, stated in part: “Officials of the Department of Environment in Anguilla, who are facilitating on-the-ground arrangements for the ministerial meeting say that “this is important for the people of Anguilla as it provides an opportunity for us to share environmental concerns and achievements in sustainable development, habitat mapping, and results of our recently conducted eco-system assessments.” It is hoped that this will in fact bring much benefit to the island.
The RRACC project, referred to above, appears to indicate that there are some definitive measures that can be taken to safeguard territories from the ravages of climate change or other types of weather phenomena. It has been generally acknowledged that there are indications of climate change impacts on Anguilla, one being sea level rise and beach erosion. A case in point, as often raised, is the disappearance of a large chunk of beach at East Shoal Bay, where the sea has taken in more than seventy feet of land. Somehow there is an urgent need to address this worsening situation. There are also severe erosion problems in the Windward Point area and there are signs of imminent destruction at other beaches. These are similar to some of the problems in the independent states benefiting from the RRACC project. Anguilla’s coastal areas are of great importance to our tourism industry and every effort must be made to protect them and the economic benefits they provide.
Beach protection, the importance of tourism, fishing and other matters relating to the environment and sustainable development, were some of the issues discussed with the children who attended the OECS climate change exhibition. It was most interesting to see the overwhelming interest shown by the schoolchildren who were engaged in the climate change discussions skilfully conducted by TelcaFontenard, the Communications Specialist with the OECS RRACC Project. The children seemed both excited and overwhelmed about the various matters covered by the discourse – as was demonstrated by their active participation, and quick response to the questions they were asked about Anguilla’s environment and the sustainability of its resources.
It seems that one can safely say that the environmental clubs, and the activities to which the children are exposed in the schools, are having a very positive effect in the classrooms as our children are being taught about the environment. It may be necessary here to join the Hon Jerome Roberts, Anguilla’s Minister of Education and the Environment, in emphasing the need “to ensure that Anguilla provides quality climate change education” for children. To quote him further, “Our approach must encourage innovative teaching methods that will integrate climate change education in schools. Furthermore, we have to ensure that we enhance our non-formal education programmes through the media, networking and partnerships to build public knowledge on climate change.”
There is certainly a need for all of us to be “climate literate”. It is for this reason that the Department of Environment must be thanked for initiating Climate Change Education programmes as part of the national agenda. The Anguilla Community College must also be commended for developing the necessary curriculum to teach environmental programmes as part of its local courses. And thanks to the OECS Secretariat and Ms Fontenard, its Communications Specialist, for mounting the climate change exhibition – in Anguilla – which provided much interest and curiosity among our schoolchildren. Teaching our children about the environment, the effects of climate change and what role we can play, will certainly help to underwrite our national development and sustainability.
