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Grenada protecting its biological riches
April 2000

By: Odette Campbell, CERN correspondent, Grenada

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Finding solutions to environmental problems is occupying the attention of Governments, international agencies and major organizations around the world. Also the United Nations is very concerned about the environment and has supported various projects in many countries around the world. One major effort by the UN was a Conference which focused especially on small island developing states (SIDS). As a follow-up to this event, which was held in Barbados, several UN sponsored projects now develop strategies to deal with specific island problems.

Grenada is one of the countries benefitting from UN environmental support. One of its experts from New York, Jeffrey Griffin, has helped to prepare a biodiversity strategy and action plan for the country. Griffin said that it seeks to address as many environmental problems as possible, including pollution and coral reef destruction. This in turn can help Grenada fulfill one of its main obligations under the International Biodiversity Treaty. He said: "Everybody in government or in non-governmental organizations has ideas about what needs to be done. Suggestions are made in many particular fields. And there are also a number of regional and international projects to take into consideration."

He added that: "We have aimed to take all of those efforts into account and build on what has been done, what information there is, and we have tried to integrate the biodiversity concerns."

All over the world people share common concerns about the environment and they want to see solutions. Griffin said that the key lies in being able to identify causes of environmental problems: "A nature conservation strategy cannot be apart from thecauses of the destruction of the environment. Those causes are the same almost anywhere in the world, they just have different sort of faces, you could say, in different places."

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In collaboration with the Caribbean Environmental Reporters Network (CERN), Panos produces a weekly 10-minutes radio series: "Island Beat - News from the environmental frontline of the Caribbean". It documents community environmental themes, in particular highlighting community experiences in finding solutions to environmental problems, reported by journalists from across the Caribbean region. This current print feature has been derived from a radio programme which was produced in July 1997.

Island Beat Articles Index