TCI First in Caribbean for UKs Blue Belt Marine Protection program; gets $1M vessel for DECR

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, June 6, 2022 – In an effort to get ahead of climate change and protect its oceans, the oceans, the Turks and Caicos Islands Government is leading the pack as the first Caribbean island to officially join the Blue Belt Program. Created bythe United Kingdom it is an initiative that seeks to protect millions of square kilometers of ocean and some of the most unique sea life worldwide.

The announcement was made at a press conference hosted by the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) on May 26th attended by Josephine Connolly Minister of Tourism, Governor Nigel Dakin and other representatives of the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources, DECR.

“The Program supports the UK overseas territories with the protection and sustainable management of their marine environment. The Blue Belt enhances marine protection over four million square feet of marine environment,” explained Lormeka Williams, DECR Director.

That four million square kilometers is home to the coral reefs of the Pitcairn Islands, the Green Turtles of Ascension Island, the Whale Sharks of St Helena, the world’s most remote human settlement in Tristan da Cunha, and the elephant seals and penguins of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands. And now it encompasses the clear Blue waters and migrating humpback whales of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Since its establishment in 2016 the Blue Belt Program  has helped set up Marine Protection Zones (MPZ) or Marine Protection Areas  (MPA) in every territory signed onto the program including the largest MPZ in the Atlantic Ocean (Tristan da Cunha). These zones limit or prohibit entirely fishing and other activities which could prove hazardous to marine life.

Josephine Connolly, Minister of Tourism with responsibility for the environment said she was ‘elated’ at the development.

“My government and I continue to prioritize the sustainable management of our marine environment. Our country’s flourishing tourism product, coastal protection and fishing resources are all hinged on the robustness of our marine habitats,” she said.

Connolly also noted that the program could directly benefit the Turks and Caicos Islands as it would ensure marine protection which would bring lasting benefits to the marine environment and local communities.

A brand new $1 million vessel will be purchased with funds from the UK that the minister says will be used to, ‘demarcate park boundaries and swim zones’. The boat will double as a research boat as well.

Governor Dakin added, “That vessel will help us understand the third biggest coral reef in the world, it will also help us understand a marine protected area that will be established that will protect sharks and rays in our waters, it’s another huge win for us.”

Come June 8th the TCI will be represented in London to mark World Oceans Day with a panel discussion under the theme “Small island Big Impact”.

The Turks and Caicos Islands will be guided by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) which are partners of the Blue Belt Program.

Human impact including poaching and poor fishing methods and destruction of the coral reef, seagrass beds and mangroves are some of the major environmental issues affecting the TCI. The Blue Belt program will provide technology allowing the country to mobilize quickly and have surveillance capabilities in order to prevent poaching.

“We will strengthen the government, increase protection of biodiversity, carry out scientific studies in support of sustainment fisheries management, manage other human activities, improve compliance and enforcement and address international issues such as climate changes, biodiversity and marine litter,” Connolly promised.

Governor Nigel Dakin described the initiative as a ‘double win’ for the Turks and Caicos coming on the heels of the recent signing of the Climate Change Charter.