$75K grant from UK to fight deadly coral disease in BVI
The Officer of the Governor is providing a grant of $75,000 to the National Parks Trust to assist with the territory’s fight against the rapidly-spreading Stoney Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD).
This is according to a media release which said officials from the National Parks Trust and the newly-established ‘Strike Team’ created by the Minister of Natural Resources Vincent Wheatley, were actively diving across the territory and treating the disease.
Speaking on the grant, Governor Augustus Jaspert said he was pleased to support the initiative with funds received from the United Kingdom.
“A cross-community approach is the only way to stop this disease from having disastrous effects on our coral and the industries that depend on it. I was also pleased to see the UK government commit new funds to support the Overseas Territories biodiversity in the most recent UK budget. I hope through collaboration and determination, we can make a difference.”
Coral Crisis imminent if measures aren’t taken
Minister Wheatley stressed on the importance of the collaborative effort in tackling the disease in the territorial waters, which is a two-part initiative.
The first part enables local dive operators to monitor and treat the disease, while the second aspect of the initiative is geared towards providing awareness education to the local community.
“Mitigating the spread of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease is of utmost importance. If we do not safeguard our reefs, then we will indeed have a coral crisis. If we do not use every resource at our disposal to prevent this disease from spreading in our waters, then we will lose one of our most important ecosystems and tourist attractions; which will be detrimental to our livelihoods and our way of life. We must do our part to ensure prosperity not only for ourselves but for our people for generations to come,” Minister Wheatley explained.
According to the National Parks Trust Director Dr Cassander Titley-O’Neal, the BVI’s coral reefs were last evaluated in 2016 by an international body at a value of $194,691,000.
The BVI’s coral reefs provide the territory with a number of ecological services of which the BVI is dependent on. These include seafood, beaches, coastal protection against erosion and natural disasters, and provides habitats for snorkelling and diving.
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Can’t say it is only local cronies getting their pockets lined. Every body si sucking the honey tit.
Great initiative and a good starting point to address an increasing problem facing coral reefs, keep up the good work!
So why was the government collecting those $10 environmental levy from tourists all these years? Wasn’t it for things like this?
No that money was/is and will be for the government to thief
That coral reef disease seems to be in pari on the anchored bouy
I’ve no idea what your post means. Could you please try again?
Well sah
Andrew Fahie won’t stop smiling
More money for them to t***f
Great news keep supporting the bvi we need all we can get and hope for more to come.
What a scam. There is not a damn thing that can be done to reverse the bleaching of coral. What is going on here is simply people corrupting monies from government coffers to their pockets. Buch ah scammeing lot.
This is not coral bleaching. Bleached corals have an opportunity to regain their coinhabitants the Zooanthellae algae if the condtions that caused their stress are reversed. This disease literally causes the flesh part of corals to dissolve leaving a completely dead skeleton that will start to be colonized by algae within a week.
Yeh read the article. This is not coral bleaching and we need to attend to this ASAP