Session 12: Appeals and Declarations
A series of two films - Island on the Edge and Climate Change in the UK Overseas Territories, Mitigation and Adaptation – gave an insight into the specific challenges facing the British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean.
Significant changes in the weather patterns of these islands have already been witnessed; an increase in tropical storms, erratic rainfall and higher temperatures that have had dramatic effects on the local environment, such as the 2005 coral bleaching.
The work of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre based in Belize was featured (represented here by the Deputy Director, Carlos Fuller), which has sought to address the multiple challenges facing the islands such as food security. Many of the islands rely heavily on increasingly expensive imported food which could be grown on the islands at a lower cost.
The other factor adding to the vulnerability of the islands is their reliance on desalination plants for drinking water, powered by oil fed generators. A combination of rising oil and food prices will lead to catastrophic consequences for the inhabitants on the islands if no adaptation measures are implemented.
The films illustrate the strength and resourcefulness of the islanders whilst highlighting their fragility in the face of a crisis that the developed countries are mainly responsible for. The message is one of urgent pro-action that seeks to address the future rather than dwelling on the past.
Appeals and Declarations
Chair: Michel Jacquier, Deputy Director General, French Development Agency
Margarita Astralaga, Regional Director, Global Programme, IUCN, gave some perspective to the portfolio of recommendations produced by the drafting committee. A culmination of several weeks and months preparation by the drafting team and the ideas from the previous two days workshops, the 14 page document offers precise, concrete actions and measures for future implementation.
Appeal for the threatened species of the overseas entities
Following the introduction of the list of recommendations, a dual presentation focused on threatened species of the overseas entities was given by Sébastien Moncorps, Director, IUCN French National Committee and Elsmarie Beukenboom, Director, STINAPA Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles.
Moncorps spoke of the IUCN Red List concerning threatened species, which catalogues; 523 species in French Overseas Territories (OTs), 187 in UK OTs and 31 in Dutch OTs.
This high concentration of mainly endemic threatened species gives the islands a high level of responsibility in terms of their protection. These species are valuable to the islands socio-economic situation (tourism), natural identity, dynamics of the ecosystem and eco services from these systems.
They are threatened by destruction and degredation of eco systems, over exploitation, invasive species, pollution, human impact and climate change.
Beukenboom cited the plight of whales and dolphins and the long-term survival of coral reefs as two examples of threatened species, as well as providing details of actions and successes in this area.
The establishment of marine protected areas had proved extremely effective when combined with the creation of a funding mechanism to pay for staff and activities, according to Beukenboom. She also emphasised the inadequacies of international legislation and the need for specific endangered species legislation for cogent action.
Moncorps called for a strengthening of the framework for action and improved knowledge, and that human impact on these species must be reduced with conservation priorities.
Awareness building through campaigns and education were essential to involvement of public and private society, he said, thereby helping to assure the long term conservation of species in their habitats in Europe and its OTs.
Declaration of the States of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC)
The principle objective of the IOC is the promotion of sustainable co-development on the South-West islands of the Indian Ocean and the defense of their ecological, economical and cultural specificities in international forums.
The outgoing Secretary General of the IOC, Monique Andreas Esoavelomandroso, recited the declaration, which sought to further the principle objections of the IOC and to facilitate its closer integration into the Europe Union.
The European Connection
Struan Stevenson, Member of the European Parliament, Chair of the Intergroup on Sustainable Development, reiterated the need for action on climate change, quoting a recent speech by Prince Charles, who declared, “we are relentlessly destroying our natural air conditioning system.”
Stevenson cited the now inseparable issues of food security and climate change, and the misguided bio-fuels policies exacerbating the global food crisis. “The amount grain required to fill a car's petrol tank would feed one person for a year,” said Stevenson.
In terms of the conference, Stevenson spoke of the need to now communicate the drafted recommendations to European politicians, with elections in Europe next June presenting an ideal opportunity.
Deliverers of the Recommendations – The Message from Reunion Island
- Anne-Claire Goarant, South Province, New Caledonia
- Frederico Cardigos, Government of the Azores
- Evelyne Tarnus, President of the Reunion Island Forum of Young Researchers in Science and Technology
- Henri Hoarau, President of the General Youth Council of Reunion Island
- Jean-Philippe Palasi, Coordinator, Overseas Programme, IUCN
Along with Goarant and Cardigos, having made a concerted effort to attend the conference, and Palasi, as representative for the instigator of this event, the Reunion Islanders read out the portfolio of recommendations of the conference.
Having only seen the recommendations minutes before the presentation, Tarnus and Hoarau demonstrated a befitting demonstration of adaptability under pressure.
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