By S. Williams
Just two months into the new year, the Environmental Departments and Disaster Management Agencies oN St. Kitts and Nevis have hosted activities geared at raising public awareness.
During this week, the St. Kitts and Nevis Conserving Biodiversity Project held two Terrestrial Ecological Inventory Open Days; Nevis on Monday Feb. 27 and St. Kitts on Tuesday Feb. 28. According to Project Coordinator Claudia Drew, the main idea behind the project is to look at the health of our environment, to catalogue what are the flora, fauna and habitats within our country and to make recommendations as to how best to conserve our resources.
The inventory, which began in December 2016 and will conclude in November 2017, is sponsored by Nevis Island Administration in collaboration with Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Program.
The Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation Tool [CCORAL] was also presented to policy makers over the course of this week. The online support system for climate resilient decision making helps users undertake quick screening, understand climate influence and apply climate risk management process.
According to Cheryl Jeffers of the Department of Environment,
climate change poses a fundamental threat to the places, species and people’s livelihoods. And although St. Kitts and Nevis’ greenhouse gas contributions to the global emission are negligible, by virtue of its location and size, it is extremely vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.
The Nevis Disaster Management Department (NDMD) continued with its twelve month multi-hazard campaign for the month of February, focusing on tsunamis preparedness with the Elizabeth Pemberton Primary School as the lead agency for disseminating information to the general public. The NDMD also hosted the first of two meetings in February to discuss plans for the upcoming regional tsunami exercise that should take place on Tuesday, March 21.
