36
Organisation is located in this district and has
been involved in climate change and sustainable
development programmes over the past 42 years.
The district is located on the coast along the
windward side of the island and is classified as a
dry area with low rainfalls. However, due to the
presence of the Kings Hill Forest Reserve, it is
attracting a moderate deposit of relief and convectional rain all year round. Most of the area is
denuded of trees due to hundreds of years of poor
agricultural practices. The topography of the
domain is hilly, and participants at the Community
Risk/Hazard Vulnerability mapping exercise
stated that the leading climate change risk hazard
is landslides resulting from storms.
Participants view sand mining as another serious problem affecting the area. The removal of
dunes through commercial means has resulted in
severe coastal erosion as a result of SLR and
wave actions. The dunes, which over the years act
as barriers to prevent the sea from eroding the
beaches of Diamond and Brighton, were cleared
by commercial sand mining. Evidence of the
exposure of the Stubbs District to SLR and high
tides as a direct result of commercial sand mining
was highlighted by Mol and Boomert (2011) in
their report entitled “Brighton Beach, St. Vincent
Excavation and Survey” (2011). Besides acting
as a barrier to SLR, storms and high tides, the
dunes at Brighton Beach are rich in archaeological materials from the Early Ceramic Age through
the Early Contact Period and is, therefore, an
invaluable heritage and scientific resource.
Although sand mining has ended in the southern
part of the site, where most excavating took place,
from photos taken in 2008 it is clear that a large
extent of beach containing archaeological materials (perhaps up to ±5000 m
2 or 1.23 acres) has been
removed in 18 years…the prognosis is that if this
activity continues unabated for another 50 years,
most of Brighton Valley will then be reclaimed by
the sea. (Mol and Boomert 2011:15–16)
JEMS Community Organisation is working
with the community to advocate for the government to put measures in place to stop the sand
mining on the beaches of Brighton and Diamond
and start consultation on adaptive measures to
resuscitate the dunes. JEMS is also working with
schools and other community-based organisations such as churches and sports groups to
develop climate change adaptation and sustainable development programmes to build the resilience of local communities to adapt to climate
change and other calamities.
Reflection on the Participatory
Mapping Exercise
Climate change is impacting severely on residents of local communities in SVG, affecting the
well-being and livelihoods of local communities.
These impacts are having long-term effects on
the prospects of socio-economic development of
these communities and have contributed to grinding the economy to a halt. The island has experienced economic growth of less than 1% GDP
since 2008.
The participatory mapping exercise is a crucial methodology used to assist local people to
identify the climate change pressures/stressors
that are impacting on their small island communities. The participatory climate risk vulnerability mapping exercises provided opportunities for
participants from various communities across
SVG to validate the climate pressures identified
through the review of literature via stakeholders’
engagement.
Through stakeholder participation, anecdotal
evidence of the effects of climate change on
youth in small island communities in the past was
provided. For example, the participatory mapping exercises enabled youth and community
leaders from 6 districts (over 40 villages, 3 towns
and an island) to identify the climate pressures
and calamities that are impacting on the communities across SVG. This provided an opportunity
for local people to discuss the vulnerabilities
faced and make decisions on how they are going
to respond to the impact of climate change within
their respective communities. Although people
generally do not possess the capacity to adapt to
the impact of climate change on their community,
due to the lack of skills and knowledge on climate change, they argued that over the past two
decades they had used local traditional knowl3 Implementation of the Conceptual Framework for Youth Adaption in Climate Change on SIDS
Organisation is located in this district and has
been involved in climate change and sustainable
development programmes over the past 42 years.
The district is located on the coast along the
windward side of the island and is classified as a
dry area with low rainfalls. However, due to the
presence of the Kings Hill Forest Reserve, it is
attracting a moderate deposit of relief and convectional rain all year round. Most of the area is
denuded of trees due to hundreds of years of poor
agricultural practices. The topography of the
domain is hilly, and participants at the Community
Risk/Hazard Vulnerability mapping exercise
stated that the leading climate change risk hazard
is landslides resulting from storms.
Participants view sand mining as another serious problem affecting the area. The removal of
dunes through commercial means has resulted in
severe coastal erosion as a result of SLR and
wave actions. The dunes, which over the years act
as barriers to prevent the sea from eroding the
beaches of Diamond and Brighton, were cleared
by commercial sand mining. Evidence of the
exposure of the Stubbs District to SLR and high
tides as a direct result of commercial sand mining
was highlighted by Mol and Boomert (2011) in
their report entitled “Brighton Beach, St. Vincent
Excavation and Survey” (2011). Besides acting
as a barrier to SLR, storms and high tides, the
dunes at Brighton Beach are rich in archaeological materials from the Early Ceramic Age through
the Early Contact Period and is, therefore, an
invaluable heritage and scientific resource.
Although sand mining has ended in the southern
part of the site, where most excavating took place,
from photos taken in 2008 it is clear that a large
extent of beach containing archaeological materials (perhaps up to ±5000 m
2 or 1.23 acres) has been
removed in 18 years…the prognosis is that if this
activity continues unabated for another 50 years,
most of Brighton Valley will then be reclaimed by
the sea. (Mol and Boomert 2011:15–16)
JEMS Community Organisation is working
with the community to advocate for the government to put measures in place to stop the sand
mining on the beaches of Brighton and Diamond
and start consultation on adaptive measures to
resuscitate the dunes. JEMS is also working with
schools and other community-based organisations such as churches and sports groups to
develop climate change adaptation and sustainable development programmes to build the resilience of local communities to adapt to climate
change and other calamities.
Reflection on the Participatory
Mapping Exercise
Climate change is impacting severely on residents of local communities in SVG, affecting the
well-being and livelihoods of local communities.
These impacts are having long-term effects on
the prospects of socio-economic development of
these communities and have contributed to grinding the economy to a halt. The island has experienced economic growth of less than 1% GDP
since 2008.
The participatory mapping exercise is a crucial methodology used to assist local people to
identify the climate change pressures/stressors
that are impacting on their small island communities. The participatory climate risk vulnerability mapping exercises provided opportunities for
participants from various communities across
SVG to validate the climate pressures identified
through the review of literature via stakeholders’
engagement.
Through stakeholder participation, anecdotal
evidence of the effects of climate change on
youth in small island communities in the past was
provided. For example, the participatory mapping exercises enabled youth and community
leaders from 6 districts (over 40 villages, 3 towns
and an island) to identify the climate pressures
and calamities that are impacting on the communities across SVG. This provided an opportunity
for local people to discuss the vulnerabilities
faced and make decisions on how they are going
to respond to the impact of climate change within
their respective communities. Although people
generally do not possess the capacity to adapt to
the impact of climate change on their community,
due to the lack of skills and knowledge on climate change, they argued that over the past two
decades they had used local traditional knowl3 Implementation of the Conceptual Framework for Youth Adaption in Climate Change on SIDS