Gov’t to upgrade mangrove nursery to mangrove bank
The Minister of Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration Vincent Wheatley has announced the that government will be upgrading its mangrove nursery to a mangrove bank as it tries to benefit from and also participate in the blue carbon market.
Blue carbon is referred to as carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems. Coastal ecosystems such as mangroves hide and store carbon and are now being recognised for their role in mitigating climate change.
The Blue Carbon Initiative works to protect and restore coastal ecosystems and many countries have turned to mangrove projects with the main aim of soaking up millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Wheatley announced the government’s plan after his return to the territory following his attendance at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12.
The Minister of Natural Resources said the introduction of the mangrove bank is not the government’s only plan to restore and protect the territory’s coasts and reduce carbon emissions.
“[The government will also] strengthen legislation geared towards the protection of the environment, increase and encourage the use of renewable energy systems, electric cars and energy-saving light bulbs,” Wheatley added.
The minister was also part of the official UK Overseas Territories (UKOT) Association delegation which attended the COP26 summit to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The other OT members who were a part of the delegation were officials from Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman, Gibraltar and Turks and Caicos Islands.
The team also hosted an event on Nature and Land Use Day on November 6. The event explored how the UKOTs are taking action to counter and mitigate the effects of global warming and how they are safeguarding precious marine environments.
Participants signed an agreement pledging to reduce their carbon footprints by 2030.
“I thought it was very important that the voices of the Overseas Territories be heard loud and clear as we hold over 90% of the UK’s bio-diversity if sufficient funding is not secured for the protection of our environment, the consequences will be dire. The BVI is fully committed to doing its part in the race to zero,” Wheatley added.
The goals of COP26 are to secure global net-zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach; adapt to protect communities and natural habitats, mobilise finance, and work together to deliver.
The Minister of Natural Resources said the Government of the Virgin Islands will continue to implement legislation to safeguard the natural resources of the territory while exploring feasible methods to ensure sustainability and economic growth.
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Are we going to turn off the diesel generators?
The BVI could easily have power sourced by solar energy plus have wind farms.
Wheatley did you actually attend the conference or did you go shopping and eating in expensive restaurants being chauffeured to and fro from your 5 star hotel. C’mon man tell us the truth. Life is good when you living off of everyone else’s dime.
Wow, he changed a word in the name!
Yea, stop ripping out those mangroves to build houses for rich people, maybe that’s a better idea!
Oil Nut Bay used to be 50% mangrove (and had a salt pond that was filled in) But I guess if you put in your ads “we are a green resort” we can forget about that bit.
Actions speak louder than words. Ban sewage dumping from private boats. Stop burning trash. Put in solar and wind generators. That would be a nice headline
ban cruise ships. These behemoths emit ten times more sulfur dioxide than 260m cars, 3-4 times the CO2 than passenger jets, dump garbage, burn their incinerators here at the dock, incubate contagious viruses, and operate outside normal laws by virtue of their flags of convenience. Check out Hasan Minhaj on the Real Cost of Cruises –
Unfortunately the beautiful & large mangrove bank that was at Pockwood Pond many years ago was killed off, & it is now the Malone Complex….
You need to fix the labour and immigration system which is killing the economy!
Will we be queuing outside!
How you going to fix the damage Oilnut doing now in Deep Bay? How you going to put that back?
He is worst than his predecessor
Who, the cuban?
Why is a barge with an excavator dredging away at Pieces of Eight then ? No silt screens and stirring up sediment while the hack away at the reef …..another rich person ?
Check your facts before posting. They are not damaging any reef. In fact they give more to the Terrotory than most. And are strong conservationists
We here in the BVI act like we’re on a different planet and all those eco issues only apply to stupid white people who can afford to care about them.
We are proud of our ignorance like it’s a show of rebellion. Proud that we buy 100s of cases of plastic water bottles every day that take 1 minute to use before they become trash in the ocean or poison fumes in the incinerator.
For some reason we think digging out a bay and taking out mangroves and dredging reefs and running large scale illegal fishpot businesses that clean the reefs of fish is all OK because it’s only ‘those’ people that cares about mangroves and oceans and the atmosphere and climate change.
Ministers talk and act the part at conferences but none is interested in the issues. All wants to give a contract to the friend who wants to dredge the seabed to put up buildings named after them and collect rent for destroying our seashore.
Wilful stupidness powered by greed is the ruling mindset. Fooling ourselves day in day out that we have some special place here when in fact we are just one small, hyper-destructive group within a self-destructive species, running fast towards the cliff.