The Turks and Caicos Islands is the first UK Overseas Territory in the Caribbean to join the UK Government’s flagship marine conservation programme, Blue Belt.
The announcement was made by Lord Goldsmith, Minister for Pacific and the Environment at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) at a World Oceans Day event celebrating the work of the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) within the Blue Belt Programme in the United Kingdom (UK).
The Minister responsible for Tourism and the Environment met with Lord Goldsmith during the day of activities and used the opportunity to make a presentation on the topic “Small Islands Big Impacts”. During the Presentation, Minister Connolly thanked the UK Government for the opportunity to highlight the work of her team in environment management and conservation. The Minister further addressed the Challenges, the work related to Climate Change, legislative review, partnerships and the way forward.
During the ‘Small Islands Big Impact’ presentation, Minister Connolly added, “This programme will directly benefit the Turks and Caicos Islands; ensuring that marine protection brings lasting benefits to the marine environment and local communities for future generations. From this partnership, we will be purchasing a new catamaran vessel that will be used in demarcating park boundaries and swim zones. The vessel will also be used for conducting industry-leading research in our waters to help improve our knowledge and management of this precious resource”.
The Blue Belt Programme will support work to protect our reefs, as well as the wider marine environment of TCI, which faces the impacts of both global and local threats – from climate change to illegal fishing. The Minister added that the Turks and Caicos Islands prides itself of having 1/3 of the country set aside in protected areas having third largest barrier reef in the world.
Support from Blue Belt includes:
· Work to monitor and conduct research into tackling coral diseases, such as Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, that is impacting reefs across the Caribbean.
· The creation of a new Marine Protected Area (MPA) covering over half of TCIs Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This new MPA will act as a sanctuary for key species such as sharks and rays, protecting them from human activities.
· Work to prevent illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. IUU fishing has been a challenge for the TCI Government over recent years, and Blue Belt will work to strengthen enforcement regimes through enhanced data analysis, informing more strategic patrols, and funding more capacity on-island.
· Monitor, manage and minimize the impact of human activities such as tourism and marine pollution (e.g. plastics) across TCI.
Minister Connolly was accompanied by Deputy Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Ronlee James and Director of Environment and Coastal Resource (DECR) Mrs. Lormeka Williams who attended the UK Overseas Territories Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUVs) Network meeting on the 7 June 2022 ahead of the World Ocean day event. The meeting discussed the BRUV’s programme which will be launched in the TCI in August. This work will be key in the continued work of the DECR on fishery stock assessments and reef health.
