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Nevis
Environment Slideshow
Place
your pointer on images to stop and start the show.
Picture1-
The Boabob Tree
Picture2 - Bog Wetlands
Picture3 - Local Fauna
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The
Nevis Historical and Conservation Society encourages environmental
awareness and has become involved in educational projects
as one way to make positive change on the island.
Nevis
is a small round island of volcanic origin and is dominated
by a (Nevis Peak, 3,232 feet). Although only 93 square
kilometers/36 square miles, Nevis has a variety of micro-climates
created by differences in altitude, temperature, humidity,
sun and wind exposure, and air salinity. The rain forest,
dry evergreen forests, mangrove swamps, cactus scrub, and
long stretches of sandy beaches show that even small islands
can be very diverse. As tourism has become increasingly important
to the local economy, related environmental issues such as
waste management and ecological degradation have emerged as
growing concerns.
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Environmental
Resources |
- ECONews
ECO
News is targeted to grades 3-6. Each student (about 800) receives
a Newsletter which include issues that focus on relevant environmental
problems. The material is written specifically for Nevisian
young people and teachers are encouraged to send ECO News home
with the pupils. Our hope is that adults and policy makers will
be influenced by the messages.
- Teachers
Kits
Each NHCS Teacher's Kit focuses on one theme and contains
background information for the educator and all supplementary
materials to enable teachers to conduct interesting and participatory
lessons. Currently available for loan to schools are kits on
the subjects of maps and pottery.
- Environmental
Events on Nevis
Coastal Cleanup: Nevis participates in the Centre
for Marine Conservation International Coastal Cleanup every
October. In the 1998 Coastal Cleanup, 216 people cleaned 8.2
miles of Nevis coastline with a total of 3,328 pounds of garbage.
We need your help to keep the beaches of Nevis beautiful! Contact
the NHCS to get involved in this year's effort.
- Environment
Week:
Event held in January and includes displays and
an environmental contest among the schoolchildren of Nevis.
Details on Environment Week activities are available in November.
- Environmental
Action Committee(EAC)
Environmental Action Committee
(EAC) directs the conservation activities of our volunteer corps.
In September-October, each year more than 200 volunteers clean
the island's coastline. The committee takes pride in the fact
that we have an 11 year history of cooperation with Ocean Conservancy
in this project (the only Eastern Caribbean island with this
record). Volunteers not only clean the coast line, but also
extend into the underwater realm and more than 20 community
groups and a dozen businesses support this effort to make our
sea safe for marine life.
The committee has adopted the Charlestown
Health Centre and is fencing and landscaping the grounds at
this site. EAC has many concerns and addresses various issues
from time to time; some of these are: recycling, reforestation
and beautification, reusing, and solid waste management.
- Coastal
Erosion Monitoring
Quarterly, volunteers collect
data to determine the extent of erosion at 18 points on the
coastline. This monitoring has been consistent since 1988 and
information is supplied to the Nevis Island Government and UNESCO.
|  Kudos
for a Remarkable Career
Throughout
20 years of unparalleled development on Nevis, David Robinson,
61, has led the charge to protect that small island's rich
natural and cultural heritage. Acknowledging his steady
and comprehensive efforts, Island Resources Foundation has
named the former Museum curator from Cooperstown, New York
its recipient of the year 2000 Euan P. McFarlane Environmental
Leadership Award.
As co-director of the
Nevis Historical and Conservation Society, Robinson along
with his wife, Joan, have been instrumental in creating
two historical museums, monitoring sand mining on the island,
protecting turtle habitats on the beach, conducting archaeological
exploration, and establishing the Upper Round Road Trail
(which was one of the three honored last year as an ISLANDS
ecotourism finalist.
Their work has had a notable
effect on the island, as Lyra Richards, president of the
Nevis society, notes, "The Robinsons have worked tirelessly,
and well beyond the call of duty, in every cleanup and volunteer
effort aimed at improving and conserving the island's resources.
They have brought the society from an all volunteer organization
to one that now has professional staff and expertise. In
addition they have set an example for the island in the
restoration of their own home, a traditional Nevisian wooden
house."
Ed Towle, chairman of IRF,
points out that Robinson's contributions and commitment
to environmental stewardship and balanced development in
the Caribbean have deservedly placed him on the foundation's
impressive roster of honored environmentalists. "This
however," says Towle, "is the first time the award
has been made to an individual from the Island of Nevis."
From:
Sept/Oct 2000 Island Magazine |
Our gift shop has Nevis Literature and Memorabilia for sale. |
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