CEP Technical Report No. 36 1996

CEP Technical Report No. 36 1996: Status of Protected Area Systems in the Wider Caribbean Region
Country Profiles

IUCN MANAGEMENT CATEGORY	No. of Protected Areas (PAs)	PAs with Marine or Coastal Zones	Extension
Category I	0	0	0
Category II	0	0	0
Category III	0	0	0
Category IV	0	0	0
Category V	0	0	0
Categories VI-VIII	0	0	0
Biosphere Reserves	0	0	0
World Heritage Sites	0	0	0
Ramsar Sites	0	0	0
Total (1)	0	0	0

First settled by the British in the 17th century, from 1825 it was ultimately incorporated into the colony of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. Anguilla ended its association with St. Kitts-Nevis in 1980. While the other islands are now independent, Anguilla remains a dependent territory of the United Kingdom. Anguilla's constitution was adopted in 1982, and a consolidated amendment was approved in May 1990.

It is government policy to protect natural scenic areas (such as beaches, historic sites, and marine life) from further damage through proper use of those resources (Richardson 1984). The Marine Parks Ordinance, 1982 empowers the Governor "by Order or Regulations published in the Gazette" to "designate any portion of the marine areas of Anguilla as a marine park" and allows him to make regulations covering a wide range of measures. The entry into force of this Ordinance is to be secured through Regulations, which had not yet been enacted in 1992.

The Beach Protection Ordinance No. 10, 1988 provides for the Governor to declare protected beaches, from which the extraction of sand and gravel is forbidden. Seventeen such beaches have been designated. The Anguilla National Trust Ordinance No. 7, 1988 provides enabling legislation for the establishment of the Anguilla National Trust.

The need to conserve marine resources effectively is recognised by the government. Establishment and management of marine protected areas was addressed, for example, in 1980 when the government requested the assistance of ECNAMP in formulating a management plan for critical marine resources. A major recommendation of that study (Jackson 1981) was the creation of a system of marine parks to protect areas of high ecological value from human activity. The study also recommended the establishment of a multiple-use reserve covering an area of sea to the north of Anguilla.

Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World Heritage, 1972)

Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention, 1983)

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, 1973)

Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar, 1971)

Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP, 1981) and its Specially Protected Areas & Wildlife Programme (SPAW, 1990)

Until 1990 environmental matters were the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, under the Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources. Now the portfolio is held by the Office of the Chief Minister. A departmental structure for the environment side has not yet been developed and the budget comes under the Department of Public Health and Environment (Pritchard 1990).

The recently established Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources has responsibility for the setting up and control of marine parks. It is anticipated that the proposed Anguilla National Trust will ultimately be responsible for marine and terrestrial park management (Pritchard 1990). The Anguilla Archaeological and Historical Society, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has been involved in the creation of the National Trust.

In February 1987 the government established the Fountain National Park Development Committee, comprising the President of the Anguilla Archaeological and Historical Society (as Chairman), two other members of the society, the Principal Assistant Secretary, the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, and the Director of Lands and Survey. At present the park is not functioning as a public amenity with managed access.

Anguilla is a low coral island, formed from limestone and marls developed on old volcanic rocks. It shares a common submarine shelf with St. Martin and St. Maarten to the south. The coastline has sandy bays in the south and cliffs in the north. There are extensive reefs off the north coast and fringing reefs along most of the south coast. The 17 km long reef along the south-east coast is considered to be one of the most important largely unbroken reefs in the eastern Caribbean (Putney 1982).

The vegetation consists of degraded evergreen woodland with scattered areas of grassland and low scrub. The only areas classified as 'wildlands' (ECNAMP 1980) are the south-west peninsula, the north-east peninsula, two areas mid-way along the north-west coast, and Prickly Pear Cays. All vegetation is subject to uncontrolled grazing by livestock.

Anguilla has small areas of mangroves and about 15 saline ponds of considerable importance for resident and migratory waterfowl. Offshore islands hold significant breeding seabird colonies. Detailed ecological surveys of the former and counts of the latter are required (Pritchard 1990).

In 1989 the government put forward a proposal to funding agencies for a comprehensive marine parks programme. The objectives of this were: to develop and implement an effective organisational approach for managing coastal resources; to provide site-specific information and technical guidelines for development and management of coastal resources; to establish marine parks at Shoal Bay, Sandy Island, Prickly Pear Cay (including Seal Island), Dog Island, Little Bay and Sombrero Island; to improve public awareness and understanding of coastal resources as a means of providing a base of popular support for protection and sustainable development of these resources; to provide immediate attention to, and amelioration of known problems of beach erosion and visitor-caused damage to critical marine habitats at proposed park sites and elsewhere.

Elements of the marine parks programme have been carried out or are in progress. Inventory and analysis of marine resources has been funded by the UK Overseas Development Administration's British Development Division in the Caribbean (BDDC), and provision of public information funded by the US National Parks Service and WWF-UK. Work on the establishment of marine parks is being funded by WWF-UK. Established MPAs do not receive effective management.

IUCN (1992) notes that the only existing protected area is an important Anguillan archaeological site, Fountain National Park, acquired using government funds in 1985. Acquisition of the 4.75 acre site involved investigation of an extremely complex landowning pattern and negotiations with the owners by the Archaeological and Historical Society.

van't Hof (1993) reported that marine protected areas had been established, but that effective management was still lacking. Resource use impacts include reef damage from anchoring, species loss from over-fishing. Organisational problems include lack of public support (especially from the fishing community) for conservation efforts and political interference.

The main pressures on natural resources come from the fishing industry and development of the island's tourist industry. The home fishing industry employs 20% of the population, and territorial waters are fished by foreign trawlers (Richardson 1984).

Tourism has developed rapidly during the 1980's. At the beginning of the decade, Anguilla had only a few thousand visitors annually. The figure reached an estimated 70-80,0 in 1990. Fishing and tourism both pose problems of damage to coral habitats by anchor and spearfishing. The development of tourism is increasingly important to the economy, but it also exerts pressure on natural resources. The development of tourism and the construction of housing are contributing to the current "building boom". This results in environmental problems such as the extraction of sand leading to beach erosion.

Ministry of Tourism (Permanent Secretary), Agriculture and Fisheries, The Valley

Ministry of Education and Environment, The Secretariat, The Valley. Telephone: (809) 497-2451 (809) 497-2455 Fax: (809) 497-3389

Anon. (1987) Anguilla. Lesser Antilles park and protected area news. Caribbean Conservation Association 1(1):2.

ECNAMP (1980) Anguilla preliminary data atlas. Eastern Caribbean Natural Area Management Programme. Caribbean Conservation Association and the School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan. 18 pp.

Jackson, I. (1987) A preliminary management strategy for the utilisation of the critical marine resources of Anguilla. Report by ECNAMP, as part of the Anguilla Resources Development Project.

Jackson, I. (1987) Plan of action for the development of marine parks, Anguilla. Caribbean Conservation Association. 22 pp.

National Speleological Foundation (1986) Proposed plans and specifications for the development of the Fountain National Park Anguilla, British West Indies. USA.

Pritchard, D. (1990) The Ramsar Convention in the Caribbean with special emphasis on Anguilla. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Sandy, Bedfordshire, UK. 146 pp.

Putney, A.D. (1982) Survey of conservation priorities in the Lesser Antilles. Final Report. Caribbean Environment Technical Report. Caribbean Conservation Association.

Richardson, L.V. (1984) Anguilla. In: Wood, J. (Ed.), Proceedings of the workshop on biosphere reserves and other protected areas for sustainable development of small Caribbean islands. USDI, National Park Service, Atlanta. 190 pp.

Salm, R.V. (1980) Anguilla, coral reefs and the marine parks potential. Report to ECNAMP on the selection and design of marine parks and reserves. Unpublished. 21 pp.

UNEP/IUCN (1988) Coral Reefs of the World. Volume 1: Atlantic and Eastern Pacific. UNEP Regional Seas Directories and Bibliographies. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK/UNEP, Nairobi Kenya. 373 pp.