National Parks - St Vincent and the Grenadines

Climate change is happening worldwide – no region on Earth has escaped it. But its effects on the Caribbean are already serious and it has the potential to become more severe than in many other parts of the world. In low-lying areas, more intense storms, floods, droughts, rising sea levels, higher temperatures, and ocean acidification are already posing severe threats to people and the marine and coastal ecosystems that support our lifestyles and livelihoods.

Click the link to read the Caribbean Marine Climate Change Report Card 2017

World Oceans Day will be commemorated on June 8^th 2017. The international theme for this year’s World Oceans Day is, “Our Oceans, Our Future”. The main conservation focus will be on plastic pollution prevention and cleaning the ocean of marine litter.

Here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, being surrounded by oceans, it is of utmost importance to celebrate World Oceans Day and realize the importance of the oceans we have around us. A healthy world ocean is critical to our survival. Every year, World Oceans Day provides a unique opportunity to honor, help protect, and conserve the world’s oceans. Oceans are very important:

• They generate most of the oxygen we breathe
• They help feed us
• They regulate our climate
• They clean the water we drink
• They offer a pharmacopoeia of medicines
• They provide limitless inspiration!

 By commemorating World Oceans Day in SVG we hope to accomplish the following objectives:

• Change perspective – encourage individuals to think about what the ocean means to them and what it has to offer all of us with hopes of conserving it for present and the future generations.
• Learn – discover the wealth of diverse and beautiful ocean creatures and habitats, how our daily actions affect them, and how we are all interconnected.
• Change our ways – we are all linked to, and through, the ocean! By taking care of your backyard and helping in your community, you are acting as a caretaker of our ocean. Making small modifications to your everyday habits will make a difference, and involving your family, friends, and community will benefit our blue planet even more!
• Celebrate – whether you live inland or on the coast, we are all connected to the ocean. Take the time to think about how the ocean affects you, and how you affect the ocean, and then organize or participate in activities that celebrate our ocean.

The National Parks Rivers and Beach Authority (NPRBA) in collaboration with other agencies such as the Fisheries Division, Forestry, and the Ministry of Tourism is hoping to coordinate individuals to come out and protect our oceans on June 8^th. Education about the importance of proper waste management and runoff control will be given, as well as physical cleaning of beaches around St. Vincent in hopes of meeting the above objectives.

A dip in this Atlantic Ocean-fed bathing pool created by lava from La Soufriere volcano, paired with wild scenery, feels healing and humbling.

Article featured in thestar.com, written by Charmaine Noronha