A flock of White-cheeked Pintails and Black-necked Stilts visiting a mangrove pond in the northwest of Anegada.
Photo Credit: Kevel Lindsay
Residents of Anegada have a unique opportunity to contribute to the first Environmental Profile to be prepared for the island.
Community input on a range of Anegada-focused environmental issues has initially been sought through distribution of a community questionnaire.
The questionnaire seeks the opinions of residents on:
? their impressions of the overall condition of Anegada?s environment,
? the main environmental challenges that affect the community,
? areas of historic and natural interest that may need further protection, and
? preferred options for the future development of Anegada.
A number of residents have already embraced this questionnaire, and others are encouraged to do so by contacting the District Officer for Anegada, Andrea Vanterpool-Fahie.
Residents will also have an opportunity to contribute to the Environmental Profile by making available to researchers old photographs that depict historic Anegada, and by reviewing draft chapters of the Environmental Profile and providing feedback to researchers.
Research teams from Island Resources Foundation (IRF) have been visiting Anegada since June 2012, to carry out studies of the island?s natural and historical environments.
IRF biodiversity experts Kevel Lindsay and Jean-Pierre Bacle recently returned from field studies in November where they visited a number of natural areas including the island?s salt ponds, marshes and freshwater habitats to learn more about migrating shorebirds and waterfowl, including ducks. Anegada is an important wintering ground and temporary stop for thousands of migrating northern bird species in the early fall and spring of each year.
The biodiversity team also visited Anegada?s Rock Iguana (Cyclura pinguis) Headstart Programme managed by the National Parks Trust. The project?s lead scientist, Kelly Bradley from the Dallas Fort Worth Zoo, updated the biodiversity team on the latest efforts to save the endemic iguana and demonstrated the delicate work needed to care for young hatchling iguanas.
Additionally, historian Dr. Michael Kent from H. Lavity Stoutt Community College visited Anegada on several occasions during 2012 in order to conduct an assessment of the historical sites of Anegada. According to Dr. Kent, when recording historical sites and buildings on Anegada, the vernacular residences that have provided homes and shelter for the island?s inhabitants for over two centuries are by far the most prolific resource.
Due to the destructive impact of climate on built structures, most of the buildings are in fact relatively new but retain features that have been employed in construction on the island for over 250 years. Thirty-eight have been recorded which is a surprising number considering that many are now derelict and in a state of collapse.
Other sites include the Conch middens, which have been C14 carbon dated to c. 1200AD, and the wreck sites which for the purposes of this study have only been accounted for from historical records rather than physically investigated. The potential to expand the already existing Faulkner museum into a larger heritage park, including other buildings, would provide a vivid display of the island?s history and culture for Anegadian school children and an additional tourist attraction for visitors.
Island Resources Foundation, a non-profit organisation with offices in Washington, DC, the British Virgin Islands and the United States Virgin Islands, has been involved in the preparation of Environmental Profiles in the Caribbean since the 1980s, having previously prepared Country Environmental Profiles for Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
In the British Virgin Islands, the Foundation collaborated with the Jost Van Dykes Preservation Society to complete the Jost Van Dyke Environmental Profile in 2009. The Virgin Gorda Environmental Profile was completed in May 2012, and the Anegada Environmental Profile is slated to be completed by March of 2013. The Tortola Environmental Profile is yet to be funded.
The Anegada Environmental Profile project is being implemented under the leadership of Judith Towle of the Island Resources Foundation, and is funded by the UK Overseas Territories Environment Programme (OTEP), the BVI Government (Office of the Premier) and private sector donors (under the leadership of the Hokin family of Virgin Gorda).
The Island Resources Foundation wishes to thank anyone who has provided assistance or support for the Anegada Environmental Profile.
Special thanks are extended to the District Officer, Mrs. Andrea Vanterpool-Fahie, who continues to provide tremendous support and energy to the project.
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Source: http://bvinews.com/bvi/anegada-community-to-contribute-to-environmental-profile/
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