33
Participants viewed tsunamis and SLR as the
joint second highest climate risks affecting the
community. The entire coastal area of the district
lost vast acres of beach and lands over the past
20 years; SLR destroyed the community playing
field and a large portion of the Browns Town
community on the periphery of Georgetown.
Further north in the coastal community of Sandy
Bay, high tides have destroyed the school, clinic,
playing field, houses and half of the community.
Lower down the coast, the community of Byrea
had to be evacuated and resettled further inland
due to the devastating impact of tsunamis and
SLR in the 1980s and 1990s. The government is
in the process of developing plans to implement
an extensive coastal rehabilitation project to protect the north windward coast from the impact of
climate change. During the past 7 years, over
70% of roads, bridges, electricity and water systems were destroyed, and over 40% of households were either flooded out or destroyed by
storms and hurricanes.
The Georgetown District is more gently
sloped than other communities in SVG and is
exposed to the full impact of storms coming in
from the Atlantic Ocean. The community representatives participating in the community mapping exercise stated that the frequency of
occurrence of the climate change impacts on the
community has enabled them to develop coping
mechanisms and adaptive capacity to deal with
these challenges facing their community. This
has also enabled them to develop and tap into
local knowledge and understanding of local-level
changes and responses (McNamara and Buggy
2016).
There were many disagreements in terms of
which hazards should be prioritised by the community as the third most impacting climate
stressors. After a lengthy discussion, landslides
were listed at number 3, followed by hurricanes
and then flooding. Due to the proximity of the
community to the La Soufriere Volcano, earthquakes were listed as sixth followed by drought.
Residents highlighted the fact that frequent earth
tremors can be felt in the community on a fortnightly basis. They do not have any explanation
of how these tremors can affect climate change,
but they are convinced that they are linked to
future volcanic activities. An elderly resident said
that these earthquakes are early warning signs to
save lives during volcanic eruptions and tsunami
activity. They agreed that earth tremors are a precursor to volcanic eruption and tsunamis, and this
will give the community enough time to move to
higher ground or to move south away from the
volcano and the coast. The community representatives said that they are always on the alert for
these eventualities. The critical lesson emerging
from the mapping and consultative exercise in the
Georgetown district was the need to understand
adaptation at the scale at which the impact of climate change is felt and experienced at the community level (Ayers and Forysth 2009; McNamara
and Buggy 2016).
A CARIBSAVE (2012) study was conducted
in three of the six communities where the climate
risk mapping exercises were conducted. These
communities are Georgetown, Brighton (southeast) and on the island of Bequia: “Climate
Change effects are evident in the decline of some
of the coastal tourism resources, but also in the
socio-economic sectors which support tourism,
such as agriculture, water resources, health and
biodiversity” (CARIBSAVE 2012:2). The
CARIBSAVE report further predicted that
detailed climate modelling projections for SVG
include:
Increase in average atmospheric temperatures,
reduced average annual rainfall, increase in sea
surface temperatures and the potential for an
increase in the intensity of tropical storms.
(CARIBSAVE 2012:2)
St. Vincent experienced over 8 months of
drought resulting from high temperatures in
2014–2015. The impact on communities was
severe. A large number of employees in the agricultural sector became unemployed because they
were unable to farm their lands, resulting in high
food prices and an increase in poverty for a large
number of marginalised householders. It also
increased agriculture-related crimes to the extent
where the government had to employ farm police
to patrol agricultural farms.
Section 1: The Participatory Mapping Process
Participants viewed tsunamis and SLR as the
joint second highest climate risks affecting the
community. The entire coastal area of the district
lost vast acres of beach and lands over the past
20 years; SLR destroyed the community playing
field and a large portion of the Browns Town
community on the periphery of Georgetown.
Further north in the coastal community of Sandy
Bay, high tides have destroyed the school, clinic,
playing field, houses and half of the community.
Lower down the coast, the community of Byrea
had to be evacuated and resettled further inland
due to the devastating impact of tsunamis and
SLR in the 1980s and 1990s. The government is
in the process of developing plans to implement
an extensive coastal rehabilitation project to protect the north windward coast from the impact of
climate change. During the past 7 years, over
70% of roads, bridges, electricity and water systems were destroyed, and over 40% of households were either flooded out or destroyed by
storms and hurricanes.
The Georgetown District is more gently
sloped than other communities in SVG and is
exposed to the full impact of storms coming in
from the Atlantic Ocean. The community representatives participating in the community mapping exercise stated that the frequency of
occurrence of the climate change impacts on the
community has enabled them to develop coping
mechanisms and adaptive capacity to deal with
these challenges facing their community. This
has also enabled them to develop and tap into
local knowledge and understanding of local-level
changes and responses (McNamara and Buggy
2016).
There were many disagreements in terms of
which hazards should be prioritised by the community as the third most impacting climate
stressors. After a lengthy discussion, landslides
were listed at number 3, followed by hurricanes
and then flooding. Due to the proximity of the
community to the La Soufriere Volcano, earthquakes were listed as sixth followed by drought.
Residents highlighted the fact that frequent earth
tremors can be felt in the community on a fortnightly basis. They do not have any explanation
of how these tremors can affect climate change,
but they are convinced that they are linked to
future volcanic activities. An elderly resident said
that these earthquakes are early warning signs to
save lives during volcanic eruptions and tsunami
activity. They agreed that earth tremors are a precursor to volcanic eruption and tsunamis, and this
will give the community enough time to move to
higher ground or to move south away from the
volcano and the coast. The community representatives said that they are always on the alert for
these eventualities. The critical lesson emerging
from the mapping and consultative exercise in the
Georgetown district was the need to understand
adaptation at the scale at which the impact of climate change is felt and experienced at the community level (Ayers and Forysth 2009; McNamara
and Buggy 2016).
A CARIBSAVE (2012) study was conducted
in three of the six communities where the climate
risk mapping exercises were conducted. These
communities are Georgetown, Brighton (southeast) and on the island of Bequia: “Climate
Change effects are evident in the decline of some
of the coastal tourism resources, but also in the
socio-economic sectors which support tourism,
such as agriculture, water resources, health and
biodiversity” (CARIBSAVE 2012:2). The
CARIBSAVE report further predicted that
detailed climate modelling projections for SVG
include:
Increase in average atmospheric temperatures,
reduced average annual rainfall, increase in sea
surface temperatures and the potential for an
increase in the intensity of tropical storms.
(CARIBSAVE 2012:2)
St. Vincent experienced over 8 months of
drought resulting from high temperatures in
2014–2015. The impact on communities was
severe. A large number of employees in the agricultural sector became unemployed because they
were unable to farm their lands, resulting in high
food prices and an increase in poverty for a large
number of marginalised householders. It also
increased agriculture-related crimes to the extent
where the government had to employ farm police
to patrol agricultural farms.
Section 1: The Participatory Mapping Process