London-based journalist Philippa Jacks writes, over at her blog, about the Bluefields Bay marine sanctuary project in Jamaica: I was in Jamaica last week for a tourism conference and spent a fascinating day down on the south west coast, learning about a marine sanctuary project at Bluefields Bay. More destructive fishing methods and growing unemployment [...]
Archive | January, 2011
Ecologists use Bahamas islands as a large-scale lab for environmental change research
A couple of years ago researchers from the University of California at Davis used several islands in the Bahamas as a field laboratory for research on how environmental changes (such as those predicted as a results of global climate change) has knock-on effects on ecosystems. The
Regional tourism agency to support and promote reef protection and coral conservation
A tourism organisation and a conservation organisation are teaming up to improve coral reef protection in the Caribbean: A cooperation agreement was signed [last week] between the Organization of Latin-American and Caribbean Tourism (OLACT) and the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL); both organizations will work together to implement conservation programs for the coral reefs and the [...]
Repopulating Montserrat with mountain chickens
Last year I wrote about plans to reintroduce the mountain chicken frog to Montserrat. Less than three months later, that reintroduction has taken place: Minister of Agriculture and the Environment, the Hon. Easton Taylor-Farrell is applauding the forestry division for having the foresight and initiative to move some of the island’s Mountain Chickens to the [...]
Bioversity education seminar held for Caribbean media personnel
Eastern Caribbean media personnel recently received education about the importance of biodiversity and protected areas: A workshop hosted by the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat on St. Kitts was assembled with the goal of educating media personnel on the role of protected areas in biodiversity conservation, and journalists’ critical role in providing information [...]
1000 Indian farmers to visit Cuba for organic farming lessons
Via Radio Cadena Agramonte: The government of the Indian southern state of Karnataka will send some 1000 farmers to Cuba in the next moths to learn organic agriculture techniques, reported Prensa Latina news agency. Farmers owning over 5 acres of land and practice these techniques will be suitable to travel to Cuba, according to the [...]
Volunteer opportunity: marine ecology and lionfish research in The Bahamas
Via, the Society for Conservation Biology jobs board, I’ve learned that the Department of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University is: looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic research assistant with a strong interest in marine ecology to assist a field project in the Bahamas. The research seeks to examine the effect of invasive lionfish on [...]
Happy as a pig in … the Bahamas!
I’m ending the Green Antilles week on a light-hearted note, with a story from the British press about a colony of pigs on the island of Big Major Cay in The Bahamas: These amazing pigs swim every day in the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas – on their own tiny island where they live [...]
Researchers investigate how Caribbean lizards strut their stuff
Researchers from Australia have been studying the mating dances of Caribbean lizards: Lizards have evolved some elaborate moves to communicate their messages in a visually crowded world, new Australian research has found. Eight species of Anolis lizard found on the islands of Jamaica and Puerto Rico rely on subtle body movements, to both attract mates [...]
