ENVIRONMENT: Ecology Still a Major Problem for Small Islands

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 29 1999 (IPS) - The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says that ecological problems facing small island developing states (SIDS) are still a major concern to the world body – despite promises and pledges made at various UN conferences.

In a series of three new studies – covering the Caribbean, Pacific Islands and Western Indian Ocean regions – UNEP says that virtually all of the 42 SIDS are in trouble, if not environmentally at least economically.

The pressures facing these countries include increasing populations, frequent natural disasters, growing urbanisation and changing patterns of production and consumption, say the reports – released Tuesday.

The rise in consumption, prompted by growing populations, also has triggered a significant increase in the amount and type of waste and pollution generated in the small island states.

Additionally, tourism, one of the major revenue earners for SIDS, has exerted pressure on land and water resources. As a result, the increase in the volume of waste has doubled in some countries during the last 30 years.

“The concerns – environmental and economic – of this particularly vulnerable group of states are a microcosm of the challenges facing all nations,” says UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer.

The three reports, published with funding assistance from the European Union (EU), have been released to coincide with a Special Session of the 188-member UN General Assembly on SIDS.

The session, which began Monday, is reviewing the progress made by these states since the 1994 SIDS Conference in Barbados.

In a statement released here, UNEP concedes that five years after the Barbados conference, “progress has not been as much as hoped for.”

Toepfer told reportwers that the sustainable development and ultimate survival of SIDS “is of global importance, and requires the forging of effective partnerships between peoples and governments, and between developed and developing countries, as exemplified by the generous financial and political support to this project by the European Community.”

According to UNEP, there is a growing water shortage in many of the small islands. During the first half of 1998, Seychelles faced one of the most severe water shortages in the last 20 years.

Mauritius also faced a severe drought in early 1999 while Barbados, one of the world’s 10 most arid countries, went through periods of intense droughts in 1993 and 1994.

The water scarcities are attributed to increasing consumption due to population growth and rising standards of living, as well as deforestation and climatic changes.

In its report on the Caribbean, UNEP says that most of the islands lie within the hurricane belt and suffer frequent damage from seasonlly intense weather systems.

The 1998 season was especially devastating because of the impact of hurricanes Georges and Mitch.

“Ecological fragility, close interdependence of economy and environment and a vulnerability to natural hazards mean that the Caribbean countries must be vigilant in maintaining their natural resource bases,” UNEP notes.

The Caribbean small islands covered in the report include Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Bahamas, Barbados, Aruba, Martinique, Grenada and the Dominican Republic.

In its report on the Pacific Islands, UNEP says that the 22 countries and territories in the region live in geographical and ecological isolation.

Many Pacific islands are characterised by extremely limited land resources such as soil and forest. These small island also depend on marine resources for their daily needs, foods, tools, transport and waste disposal.

“This dependence remains in spite of new technologies and lifestyes,” the report says.

The countries covered in the report include Fiji, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Guam and Marshall Islands.

Although the islands of the Western Indian Ocean differ substantially in size and level of development, they share common environmental features which have a profound influence on their development.

The land, forests, rivers, biodiversity, lagoons, beaches, reefs and marine areas are important ecological resources on which the economic prosperity of the islands depends. “But these are very fragile ecosystems which can be easily degraded through mismanagement or natural calamities,” the report notes.

For this reason, the islands are highly vulnerable from all points of view – economic, environmental and social.

A major challenge for the countries in the region – which include Comoros, Seychelles and Mauritius – is sustainable development.

Seychelles, made up of 115 islands, has a unique ecology, pristine environment and tourist attractions, and the highest Human Development Index ranking in Africa.

But the report says that Seychelles particularly is vulnerable to external economic conditions because of its small size and high dependence on external markets.