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Environment and
development
in coastal regions and in small islands |
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CSI info 6
4. PUBLIC AWARENESS AND EDUCATION
Within the framework of CSI, the
COSALC project includes educational, social, cultural, economic
and public awareness aspects of beach management.
For awareness activities to be
successful they have to be sustainable, so the major goal within
the project is to train ‘trainers’ on each island and
to provide these ‘trainers’ with the necessary
information and materials. During 1996 and 1997, the following
materials were prepared and distributed:
- In collaboration with the island
counterparts, pamphlets were prepared for six islands
(Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Nevis
and St. Kitts) in 1996, (16-21). These described the nature of the
beach erosion in each country/territory for the general
public and school audiences. The aim was to present some
of the technical information on beach changes and
possible solutions in a reader friendly format. Each
island was sent 800 pamphlets. In Grenada, the pamphlet
was incorporated into environmental education packages
for teachers there.
- The brochure describing the project was updated
and reprinted in 1996 (22), and distributed throughout the
region.
- A regional slide presentation on
‘The effects of the 1995 hurricanes on the beaches
of the Lesser Antilles’ was prepared and distributed
in 1997 (23). This consisted of 59 slides and a
written commentary. Two sets were distributed to the main
government agencies and key NGOs in each
country/territory involved in the project. Some copies
were also sent to regional organizations e.g. the
Caribbean Development Bank, the Organization of Eastern
Caribbean States Natural Resources Management Unit.
- Island specific slide
presentations have been prepared. In 1996 a slide
presentation on ‘Beach changes in Nevis’,
consisting of 42 slides and a written commentary (24) was prepared and given to the Nevis
Historical and Conservation Society for use in their
awareness and school programmes. In Anguilla in 1996,
slide presentations on ‘Beach processes in
Anguilla’ (55 slides and a written commentary) (25) and ‘The effects of Hurricane
Luis on the beaches of Anguilla’ (43 slides and a
written commentary) (26), were prepared and distributed to two
government agencies, as well as the Anguilla National
Trust and the Environmental Club of the Albena Lake Hodge
Comprehensive School.
- A poster entitled ‘The sea
at your doorstep’ was produced in 1997 and given
limited distribution in 1998 (see
Section 3.3).
- Articles relating to beach
management and the project are published every quarter in
the newsletter ‘Sea Grant in the Caribbean’.
This newsletter is distributed free to all the COSALC
countries/territories and throughout the wider Caribbean.
Articles in 1996 and 1997 (27-34), were entitled:
When the beach disappears...
Why manage the beach?
Hurricanes: Minimizing the damage
Integrated beach management
New directions for sand mining
Cooperative approaches to beach management
Islands of sand: places of change
Sand dunes: temporary features of paradise
- Coping with Beach Erosion (39), a manual for the public was prepared
by Gillian Cambers in 1997 and will be published by
UNESCO by the end of 1998. This will provide stakeholders
in the Caribbean islands with the information necessary
to make wise decisions about how to deal with coastal
erosion problems. The manual has been organized around
several specific themes, e.g. the beach has disappeared,
factors to consider when buying coastal property etc.
Besides these materials, other
awareness information has been distributed to specific islands on
request, e.g. in 1997 pre-recorded videocassettes were supplied
to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada for use in their
public awareness programmes. These included films on Hurricane
Hugo, safe building for hurricanes, marine debris and a series of
fifty short clips on environmental themes.
While most of the awareness
activities are conducted by COSALC counterparts on each island,
some specific activities were undertaken by the project
coordinator during island visits in 1996 and 1997:
- Nevis, May 1996 –
presentation on beach changes to some members of the
Nevis Historical and Conservation Society;
- Antigua and Barbuda – July
1996, presentation on hurricanes and beaches in Antigua,
shown on local television;
- Grenada, July, 1996 –
presentation on beaches in Grenada to the National
Science and Technology Council;
- June, 1997 – presentation
to a meeting of government agencies on the need for beach
management in Grenada;
- June, 1997 – presentation
on beaches at a public meeting in Carriacou.
- Turks and Caicos Islands, 1997
– two presentations, one on hurricanes and another
on the social issues of beach management at a workshop
for the public organized by the Department of
Environmental and Coastal Resources (35).
In 1997, pilot projects we re
conducted in Anguilla and Grenada to assess ongoing awareness
activities relating to beach management in those
countries/territories. The major findings from this pilot project
are:
- Future awareness projects will
have to be individually designed so as to best utilize a
country/territory’s human and media resources. For
instance in some countries/territories local radio
stations are still the main media resource, while in
others local TV stations fulfill that role;
- Short video clips may be a
useful means of getting ‘the message into the living
room’ in many of the COSALC countries/territories.
It is envisaged that such video clips would focus on a
specific theme relating to beaches. Such clips could be
repeated on the local TV stations. Training in video
preparation would be required for this activity;
- In most countries, NGOs are the
key agencies for the implementation of awareness
programmes although such efforts should be undertaken in
cooperation with government agencies.
Efforts have been made to get schools
involved in the beach monitoring programme. Some success was
achieved in Nevis through the programmes organized by the Nevis
Historical and Conservation Society. In Grenada in 1996, the
Science Club of the Hillsborough Secondary School in Carriacou
started to conduct the beach monitoring in that island. However,
unfortunately this effort ceased in 1997 when the teacher
involved in the activity left the school. In St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, COSALC is working with the UNESCO Caribbean Sea
Project to get the students in two coastal schools involved in
the beach monitoring.
