The UK Overseas Territories contain 94% of the UK’s biodiversity, making them globally significant nature hotspots. Protecting by integrating climate change resilience in these areas is crucial.
Environment Systems have a long-established relationship with both government agencies and NGO’s in the Territories. In the past, they have both led and supported projects that focused on biological data management in the Falklands and Ascension and coastal resilience and restoration work in Anguilla.
Our Partnerships
Currently, we are partnering on two UK Government Darwin Plus -funded projects in the Caribbean. The first focused on the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), and the second the British Virgin Islands (BVI). These island groups are home to extremely rare and threatened species and unique habitats. Still, this incredible biodiversity and the local communities face increasing threats from climate change. Severe storms such as Hurricane Irma and Maria in 2017 decimated the islands; longer droughts affect agriculture and water supplies, and rising sea levels are an ever-increasing problem.
In collaboration with the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands and Wavehill ltd Environment Systems assists the BVI’s local agencies in integrating climate change resilience into protected area design and management. This will build resilience into the British Virgin Island protected area network by identifying sites that provide ecosystem services to the community and support the island’s unique biodiversity in the face of changing climate.
While further North in the Caribbean in the Turks and Caicos islands, we are working with the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources to develop ecosystem service models highlighting the value of natural ecosystems such as the internationally important North Caicos Ramsar site. The project aims to provide evidence of the dynamic resilience of the Caicos Islands’ wetlands and how they support biodiversity, coastal protection, and natural capital. The effect of future climate on wetland functions, ecosystem services and biodiversity will also be investigated. Our project partners, Marine Conservation Society, SWA Environment Ltd and The University of Exeter, also contribute by collecting distribution data of key species found within the protected areas.
Local Workshops
Over the last six months, Environment Systems have facilitated workshops in both BVI and TCI to increase technical capacity and ensure that as much local knowledge and data can be incorporated into our modelling work.
Remote sensing and ecosystem service modelling undertaken as part of these projects will help the islands target data collection, raise public awareness and, most importantly, support decision-makers to enhance the protection of sites for the benefit of both people and biodiversity.
This Project is funded by the UK Government through Darwin Plus.
Links to our Funding Partners websites.