Burton-James

Some Ethical Issues On Furthering Stewardship In Coastal Management In Small Islands

While promoting and disseminating information about this workshop, persons frequently asked ‘What is the meaning of stewardship? Why stewardship? What are the implications for us? What is in it for us’? The questions imply a ‘them and us’ dichotomy, namely the inclusion of a few, and exclusion of many. Here, we see persons searching for information, using their own value system to make judgments on what is expected to happen as it relates to stewardship.

Words have the power to create and shape realities. Indeed, it is a truism that the words of the strong carry more weight than the words of the weak. The public in Dominica perceives ‘stewardship’ as a new word and concept. Quick reference to the thesaurus elicited a number of synonyms for stewardship: home administration, home management, home budgeting, husbandry, housekeeping, and business dealings.

Stewardship clearly calls for domestic context-based policies that are constructed locally, with practices evolving out of real conditions in Dominica, but not exclusive of external factors. Entrenched globalisation, historical trading and commercial patterns, and extensive trade liberalisation continue to influence local conditions in all parts of the world. Currently Dominica is implicated in an international lobbying process, in which Japan seeks Dominica’s support to continue whaling. Simultaneously, a Parliamentarian from the Pacific Islands headed a mission to Dominica to lobby the country’s vote for the establishment of a whale sanctuary in the Pacific. Hence, global factors are inevitably integral to the discourse on stewardship and local development.

Studies of established patterns of management in general, and of coastal resources in particular, document the non-involvement of local persons in decision-making. Recent trends have shown the increased participation of persons at middle management level in decision-making. Overall, however, a small percentage, approximately 10% of all individuals, and mostly top-level administrators, make decisions and control programmes and projects dealing with coastal resources.

The top-down decision-making process, inherited from colonial times, continues to dominate institutional, private, government and non-governmental management. In this paradigm, local persons are very disadvantaged, in that they have minimal access to the planning process, and little general or specific information on the choices available and decisions being made. Subsequently, coastal resources are frequently acquired and controlled by wealthy persons and/or groups, who are part of the upper echelons of the society, or non-local persons proposing projects as investment for national development.

Despite the commonly held assumptions, that this small controlling group should know better, evidence shows they have become the greatest violators of coastal resources. Violations include:

	1.	Waste dumps are usually placed close to poor communities, mangroves and wetlands, and rivers.
	2.	There are a growing number of quarries in Dominica, particularly on the west coast, where the commercial mining of sand, stones, shale and tarrish takes place. A number of hills are disappearing due to intensive commercial mining. Numerous conflicts have escalated to become complex litigation cases. Some cases are being contained through government mitigation efforts. Other litigation cases have been suspended due to ambiguous planning laws and policies, or blatantly corrupt practices.
	3.	Few or no studies are being made of the short and long term implications of heavy and excessive mechanical intrusion on friable loam soils of the coast. Meanwhile, the habitat and sustainability of ecosystems and a unique aesthetic landscape are being systematically destroyed.
	4.	Establishment of inappropriate industries close to the sea or rivers results in the pollution of beaches and rivers, e.g. during the past five to ten years, the Beori River, a swift mountain river flowing from the Boeri Lake, has changed in certain areas, from crystal clear, tumbling waters, to a sluggish choked stream. Among, the pollutants that flow into the river and the sea are human and industrial waste, agricultural pesticides, silt, cement, and oil. Bathers are abandoning beaches in this area, and marine life continues to be heavily affected.
	5.	Planners, politicians and entrepreneurs perceive river estuaries, known locally as ‘bucherie’, as having low economic value and status. In contrast, locals, villagers, and traditional healers value early morning ‘bucherie baths’ for therapeutic healing and wellness.
	6.	Unlawful acquisition of coastal lands and beaches, and the building of sea defence structures, is another concern. Most notable, is the construction of seawalls, designed, planned and implemented, with minimal or no community involvement. The designers of these walls did not take into consideration the extensive work done on beach monitoring through a UNESCO-sponsored project. Among the impacts of sea walls are the plight of endemic crab species, turtles and other marine life.

Following the analysis of the Dominican situation, the local administration needs to emphasize following:

	l	Acknowledgment of human judgment and rationalization of issues in the local environment.
	l	Access and use of relevant information and knowledge.
	l	Sharing research and application of indigenous knowledge.
	l	Equitable participation, however, locals need to acquire negotiating and decision-making skills.
	l	Cultural sensitivity and collective action.
	l	Dialogue, advocacy and commitment. Education programmes are needed for decision-makers and others.
	l	Communication technology will advance the cause more quickly and convincingly.
	l	Expertise and capacity building, UNESCO can assist with education, research, and promotion of our interests globally.

Widespread local propaganda emitted by support for Japan’s thrust to continue whaling has precipitated anti-conservation opinions. The pervasive and emotional outbursts prompted village action groups to submit resolutions supporting Japanese whaling to Parliament. Can stewardship create processes that stimulate Dominicans to participate in decision-making that can reverse the abuse of coastal resources?

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