Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands

Dominica workshop papers

Management of Beaches in Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique 

Peter Thomas 

Grenada’s beaches, as perhaps most beaches of small island states, have been under severe stress lately.  Some of these onslaughts are natural and include the tropical storms, hurricanes and accompanying sea swells that damage the coastline and remove vegetation and coastline infrastructure.  Other impacts, however, are a result of man’s activities and rob the islands of some of their most productive economic resources and scenic beauty. 

Since most of the beaches are terminal points of some aspect of the coastal zone, there is little doubt that great significance is attached to them and to the use of the sea.  Some of these beach activities include: 

	a.	Tourism industry: Attached to this are the numerous other activities, which provide employment and cash flow throughout the state. Reference is made to the Grand Anse hotel belt and its accompanying taxi and boating services, small restaurants and shops, guest houses, beach vendors, purchases of farm products and associated infra-structure – water, communication facilities, electricity.
	b.	Biological communities: Beaches are also associated with coral reefs, sea grass beds, adjoining swamps and mangroves, fish and wildlife.
	c.	Local towns: The main city and all the towns are either built on once existing beaches or are within close range of a small beach or some sandy patch. Within these locations are ports for:
			safe anchorage of ships,
			ship trading and warehousing,
			dry docking and repairs,
			supporting industries.
	d.	Recreation: This is a favourite pastime for foreigners and locals alike.

Despite these and other activities for which our beaches are famous, we continue to:

		Step on tar balls and pieces of wreckage (in recent times) on beaches like Seamon (Simon) and Pearls on the east coast.
		Dump solid waste, including sewage, on beaches, on hillsides, or in drains, streams and rivers whence they are washed down to the sea.
		Dynamite coral reefs to catch fish, or anchor yachts on them, which eventually leads to damage.
		Drain wetlands, and reclaim land, very often close to the beach, which leads to siltation and death of marine life.
		Select poor sights for some developmental activities and so encourage erosion in many cases.
		Destroy dunes and their associated vegetation. Such practices induce lowland flooding and reduce scenic value.
		Mine sand prodigiously thus creating dangerously large sand pits on the beaches. Sand mining is a dangerous practice and is one of the main causes of shoreline erosion.

Although some progress has been made in the managing of Grenada’s beaches over the years, there still does not seem to be a set strategy geared towards general beach management. Management of the environment on the whole is poor and fragmented, and often shared among different ministries, agencies and/or non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In the early 1990s, the Ministry of Health established an Environmental Desk, which was supposed to oversee matters pertaining to the environment. The Desk encountered administrative difficulties and was soon aborted. That ministry was renamed that of Health and the Environment, but is presumably handling mainly environmental health, i.e. waste disposal. It is believed that the Division of National Parks, Ministry of Agriculture was (probably still is) responsible for beach protection and the Board of Tourism was responsible for beach cleaning.  (See Appendix I ‘Allocation of Responsibilities’). The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is not responsible for Grenada’s beaches, however, it monitors some of the beaches and releases the data (mostly academic) as requested. There is a plan to improve the functionality of Grand Anse Beach.  This plan ‘…provides recommendations for the regulatory and management framework for execution of the project, (and) guidelines for a public awareness and information programme’.  But this is only for Grand Anse Beach. 

There is so much to be done to improve the functionality of Grenada’s beaches that finding a solution to the management problems is almost impossible.  Basically, sustainability of all the beaches requires:

Previous meetings and workshops have examined many of the existing problems and suggested ways to halt them. Grenada will remember 1999’s Hurricane Lenny and its millions of dollars in damage. In terms of recovery, the following actions need to be implemented: cessation of over-exploitation of extractable resources including sand, stones, pieces of corals (from reefs), vegetation, animals e.g. sea turtles; and halting damage to habitats, e.g. unnecessary clearing of land and vegetation, coastal pollution, etc. 

Another possible measure is the restoration of former resources for controlled use e.g. beach replenishment, re-vegetation of sand dunes, reclamation of surrounding wetlands (if possible), and creation of artificial reefs in some cases.  Wetlands are very important in easing beach stress. Finally, Grenadians should learn and begin to practise conservation of coastal resources. 

Among others, Grenada needs to:

	a.	Identify, legally protect and oversee the sustainable use of all its beaches. This will include assessing the economic and social values or uses, historical or archaeological values and the legal status.  Protection here may mean screening or isolating certain activities e.g. water skiing, fishing.
	b.	Work out arrangement with beach land owners. Although the Crown owns all beaches, there are still major conflicts between neighbouring land owners, visitors, developers and government. Development of any sort should be done as an integrated effort involving all stakeholders.
	c.	Form a specific agency for beach affairs, overseen by a board of directors. Such a board should include stakeholders, the police, NGOs and representatives from civic groups. It should:
			Identify and map out all beaches in all the islands.
			Make recommendations for governance.
			Develop and execute management categories and concepts.
			Up-date and up-grade the populace on beach performance (education) to ensure skills and experience needed for beach existence.
			Organise training, workshops, media sessions on beach dynamics.
			Awaken citizens to a sense of belongingness.
	d.	Develop and define objectives for management. Objectives here should include design of environmental plans, designation of areas for specific uses, e.g. cooking, waste collection, shelter, dress and rest rooms. There should be vigilante groups especially on fiesta days for clean up, maintenance of order, etc. There should be constant review and evaluation of objectives.
	e.	Institute a legal framework to review, amend and enforce beach laws. Such laws should stipulate boundaries, management categories and strategy. The decree should involve the Attorney General, coastal planners and managers. It should include written laws (by central government) and by-laws (operated by local government) and have penalty clauses and exceptions.
	f.	Educate its citizenry. Education unlocks the door of ignorance. The man on the street needs to be more beach-conscious. Students at school need to take their natural sciences (geology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, etc.) more seriously and associate them with the social sciences in order to understand how the beach exists. People must learn about and implement the recommendations of environmental impact assessments. Developers and planners have to learn to incorporate beach data (beach profiling, wave measurements, sea level data) in their work.
	g.	Implement the principles of integrated coastal management (ICM) in beach development. ICM brings many different agencies and ideas together. It is flexible, dynamic, and sensitive to change.
	h.	Insist that constructors and developers observe setback regulations for buildings, as well as properly design and construct sea defences.
	i.	Stop human-induced erosion, such as that caused by beach sand mining. Seek alternatives to beach sand such as fine aggregate from crushed stones.
	j.	Set up proper beach maintenance systems. The community should adopt a structured approach to this activity.
	k.	Control user conflicts between government, developers, boaters, beach users, pets, hecklers and vagrants.
	l.	Designate water use areas, e.g. buoyed swimming areas; and establish a lifeguard system to protect water users.

Management of our beach resources is much more than lip service. We need to know exactly what those resources are, what importance is attached to them, what we are doing to degrade them and what mitigation measures must be used. There is need for strict governance, and people consciousness. Every protective measure, no mater how small, is another positive move to save the islands from virtual disappearance. 

Appendix I.     Allocation of Responsibilities

The current approach to environmental management in Grenada is sectoral in nature.  The Ministry of Health and the Environment has the primary responsibility for the environment along with some twenty agencies, inclusive of government departments, non-governmental organisations and statutory bodies (Physical Planning Unit – Draft Sectoral Report on the Environment, 2000). The table below shows the major players. 

Table Showing Allocation of Selected Coastal Management Responsibility

Start		Introduction		Activities	Publications	Search
		Wise Practices	Regions		Themes