Environment | Policy

20 Mar 09

Caribbean region depends on tourism

A project to save Caribbean islands from the impacts of climate change has been given a boost with seed funding of £240,000 from the UK government.

The project called CARIBSAVE, led by the University of Oxford and the Caribbean Community Centre for Climate Change, aims to raise US$35 million over the next 3-5 years to tackle the challenges of climate change and its effect on tourism in the Caribbean region.

Part of the seed funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) will be spent on a six-month pilot study of two Caribbean destinations, Eleuthera in the Bahamas and Ocho Rios in Jamaica. Eleuthera is famed for its coral reefs and pink sandy beaches; while Ocho Rios attracts visitors keen to experience the island’s lush, verdant scenery and tropical waterfalls.

In a matter of weeks, climate change scientists will start monitoring the islands as test cases for the entire region’s tourism industry. By analysing destinational climate models of data collected between 1961 and 2008, the researchers will calculate the islands’ likely climate until 2100. They will predict likely levels of rainfall, wind-speed, the rate of rising sea temperatures and sea levels, as well as the frequency of extreme weather events like hurricanes or monsoons. They will also assess the particular vulnerabilities of each island to physical impacts, such as coral bleaching or beach erosion.

The climate science and physical impacts will be linked with socio-economics and other factors such as health, for instance whether rising sea levels could contaminate water supplies, and the increased risks of dengue fever and malaria posed by more frequent flooding.

The pilot study will provide a blueprint for climate and adaptation modelling, as well as vulnerability screening, that can be rolled out across other tourist destination sites and countries in the Caribbean region. The CARIBSAVE model is designed specifically for the vital tourist sector but will inform wider policy and planning processes in a range of other sectors including energy, agriculture, health, biodiversity and infrastructure. Local people, organisations and governments in the Caribbean are partners in the project and will receive assistance in building up the skills they need to implement the policies for tackling climate change. Another key component of the CARIBSAVE project is to achieve carbon neutral status for the Caribbean so it becomes the first carbon neutral region in the world. 

Project Director Dr Murray Simpson, from the School of Geography and the Environment at Oxford University, said: ‘The vision for CARIBSAVE is a long-term and sustained approach to climate change and tourism in the region. The Caribbean is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change and its economies and communities are recognised as the most reliant on tourism in the world. We have designed an approach that manages a huge range of risks and consequences of climate change. We are looking at how climate change will affect biodiversity, water supplies, the economy, energy, health, infrastructure, livelihoods and disaster management.

‘Hundreds of tropical Caribbean islands attract millions of tourists each year, but the impact of climate change is already starting to affect its fragile ecosystem and endanger the livelihoods of many of the islanders. The highest level of international and regional expertise is being drawn together to form a highly motivated, long-term team that links climate science with the physical, and social and economic impacts of climate change. We are providing practical assistance that can allow this vulnerable part of the world to adapt and survive.’