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| United Nations Environment Programme |
United States Environmental Protection Agency |
Office of Environmental Information (3404) |
Volume 8, Number 1 January 2000 EPA/220/N-97-001 |
edited by
Sarah Quimby, INFOTERRA/USA
Welcome to CARIBBEAN CURRENTS, Volume Eight, Number One. This newsletter is edited by INFOTERRA/USA in its capacity as the Regional Service Centre (RSC) for INFOTERRA National Focal Points (NFPs) in the English and French-speaking Caribbean. Although CARIBBEAN CURRENTS is assembled at INFOTERRA/USA, the content belongs to you, the readers. You are encouraged to send in any questions, comments, problems, or interesting issues relevant to the Region for inclusion in CARIBBEAN CURRENTS. Please see the Guidelines for Contributions below for more information.
Each issue features a Directory of NFPs in the Region so that anyone with international environmental questions can contact their nearest resource. Please feel free to contact one another as well as your RSC for assistance or materials.
Please don't hesitate to share CARIBBEAN CURRENTS with your friends and colleagues, and to make copies as needed. The Currents should serve as an informational forum for anyone who lives, works, or is involved in environmental issues in the English and French-speaking Caribbean Region.
Island Information Networks
This issue of Caribbean Currents deals with the information networks that recognize that islands the world over are unique entities, with environmental, cultural, developmental, and economic structures entirely different from large land masses. Island information networks bring island nations together around their many commonalities, as well as foster research and provide access to information and policies developed by small islands for small islands. This issue profiles several of these networks.
If you have any comments on any topic, would like to contribute a short article, or have a resource guide to share, please submit your contribution by following the guidelines on page 8. We are grateful for all comments and contributions.
"More than 600 million people are islanders, or more than one in every ten humans." Joshua Calder.
"Small islands share many common problems related to agriculture, tourism, energy, out-migration, coastal management and other environmental/land use concerns, etc. Policy makers can benefit from knowing how other small islands have approached these problems. There is a real need for simple, organized access to policies developed by small islands for small islands. The infrastructure of small islands usually cannot support adequately the wide range of activities and services people want. One of the most obvious shortcomings is the difficulty a small island has in acquiring, storing, and organizing all the information relevant to its needs. A worldwide network would go a long way toward providing the kind of support that islands around the globe will need. " Peter Meincke and Catherine Edward, Institute of Island Studies, University of Prince Edward Island. From: "Why Networks for Small Islands."
As noted in the article cited above, islands and island nations the world over share many commonalities, such as economic structures and environmental pressures. Another characteristic that islands share with each other is isolation, both from the physical mainland and from the information and resources needed for effective protection of the environment and sustainable development. The purpose of island-specific information networks is not to marginalize islands and their issues but to connect islanders to relevant information and shared expertise. Often environmental models and research are developed with large land masses in mind and are not applicable to small islands; too, this information is often stored on the mainland, making access difficult. This creates a situation that the Island Resources Foundation refers to as "information imperialism," where outsiders, however well- or ill-intentioned, create and exchange information about a certain region and make decisions about that region using that information, often in ignorance of the realities of life in that region. Island-specific networks seek to liberate this information. Policy makers, environmentalists, students, small businesses, and farmers can all benefit from island information networks, which seek to capture and disseminate information as well as to connect individuals who make their life and living on small islands. study, or by conference activities. The explosive growth of electronic communications technology and the Internet has made possible the dissemination of information and personal communications on a much larger, faster, and cheaper scale. Many of these island networks are relatively new, formed in response to this new technology. However, even if these networks are new, or still forming, they still have a great potential to increase the access to vital information; and with access, comes use. Below are profiles of several island information networks.
International Scientific Council for Islands Development
c/o UNESCO
1 rue de Miollis
75015 Paris-FRANCE
Tel.: +33 1 45684056
Fax: +33 1 45685804
http://www.insula.org 
The United Nations has several programs and networks devoted to islands. The International Scientific Council for Islands Development, or INSULA, was founded in 1989 within the Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO, with the aim of contributing to the economic, social and cultural progress of islands throughout the world, as well as the protection of island environment and the development of their resources. INSULA facilitates technical co-operation in all fields relating to sustainable island development with a special interest in island cultures and human resources development, and the exchange of information and experience through the publication and diffusion of periodical journals, books and reports, using the international and multidisciplinary network represented by its members. Members of INSULA include researchers from a wide range of disciplines, specialists and administrators as well as institutions who have at heart the sustainable development of islands and small island states.
ISLANDS: Access to information on islands and small island developing
States (SIDS) especially from within the United Nations system.
UNEP Earthwatch
15 Chemin des Anemones
CH-1219 Châtelaine
Geneva, Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 797-3471
The United Nations Environment Programme administers ISLANDS, which provides access to a number of resources concerning islands that are otherwise rather scattered and difficult to obtain. It includes basic UN documents or extracts from documents relevant to islands, educational materials and training courses concerning islands, and a directory listing some 2,000 islands and giving their basic geographic, environmental and socio-economic characteristics.
United Nations Sustainable Development: Small Islands
2 UN Plaza, Room DC2-2220
New York, New York 10017 USA
Tel. (+ 1 212) 963 3170
Fax ( + 1 212) 963 4260
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sids.htm
The Small Island Development States Network (SIDSNet)
Small Island Developing States Network (SIDSnet)
Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
304 East 45th Street, Room FF-634
New York, NY 10017 USA
Tel: (212) 906-5511
Fax: (212) 906-6952
E-mail: sidsnetmaster@sdnhq.undp.org
http://www.sidsnet.org/
The United Nations Development Programme oversees the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) program, which was founded in 1994, when the first global conference on sustainable development and the implementation of Agenda 21: The Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States was convened in Barbados. This conference adopted several affirmations, including the sovereign rights of small islands over their natural resources; the vested interest of small islands in coastal protection and sustainable development; the vulnerability of small islands to natural disasters; the right to self-reliance, and so on. The SIDS Secretariat is responsible for facilitating the resolutions of the Barbados Conference. To this end, the SIDS Secretariat instituted the Small Island Developing States Network (SIDSNet), which provides news, grants for meeting and conference attendance, Internet training, consultant services, web site mirroring, and e-mail hosting.
CEPNET: Information Systems for the Management of Marine and Coastal
Resources
UNEP — Caribbean Environment Programme
Regional Co-ordinating Unit
14 - 20 Port Royal Street
Kingston, Jamaica, W.I.
Tel: 876 922 - 9267
Fax: 876 922 - 9292
Email: uneprcuja@cwjamaica.com
http://www.cep.unep.org/
While not a network intended for islands the world over, CEPNET, a sub-program of the UNEP Caribbean Environment Programme, still has relevance for islands in general and Caribbean islands in particular. CEPNET supports all the activities of the Caribbean Environment Programme by promoting information and data networks, both in terms of electronic information management systems, such as databases and the internet, as well as networking expertise, contacts and agencies. Countries participating in CEPNET will implement an information clearinghouse webpage with the purpose of disseminating metadata on coastal and marine information, and of providing information services such as: access to databases and reports; acces to information with map interfaces; basic Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services; and news on national and regional environmental issues; among other services not yet foreseen at the present level of the technology. Members of CEPNET are Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and the Bahamas. CEPNET is responsible for the production and dissemination of CEPNews, the CEP Technical Report series and other materials through the media of print and the Internet. Increasingly CEPNET will rely on the Internet to provide connections for information exchange among those concerned with the conservation and sustainable development of the coastal marine resources of the Wider Caribbean Region. The Programme is also responsible for the regionalization of global information systems such as INFOTERRA, GRID and ENRIN.
Island Resources Foundation
Headquarters and Resource Management Strategies
6292 Estate Nazareth, # 100
St. Thomas, VI 00802-1104
Phone: 340/775-6225
Fax: 340/779-2022
E-Mail: etowle@irf.org
Information Systems and Publications
1718 "P" Street NW, # T-4
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202/265-9712
Fax: 202/232-0748
E-Mail: bpotter@irf.org
British Virgin Islands
123 Main Street, Box 3097
Road Town, Tortola
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
Phone: 284.494.6954
E-mail: irf@irf.org
http://www.irf.org/
The Island Resources Foundation was founded in 1972 with the
aim of providing development and environmental planning assistance to
governments and private nonprofit environmental organizations of small
tropical islands. The Foundation's headquarters is in St. Thomas, US Virgin
Islands; there are branch offices in Washington, DC, and in St. John's,
Antigua. One of the central goals of the Island Resources Foundation
is to increase access to, and especially increase the use of environmental
information by and about small tropical islands. They are also concerned
with ending "information imperialism," the situation that exists
when vital information about an island comes from the mainland, or when
islands or developing countries do not even have access to information
about themselves. To further this goal, the Island Resources Foundation
has made a great deal of information available on its webpage, including
abstracts, access to its library holdings, and bibliographies. There is
a very interesting article on the role of INFOTERRA in disseminating environmental
information in the Caribbean, at http://www.irf.org/irenvinf.html.
Island Web Consortium
http://www.islandstudies.org/iwc/index.htm
http://www.ecdpm.org/iwc/iwcpro.htm
The Island Web Consortium was founded in 1997 in order "to promote integrated development and sustainable resource management of islands worldwide, particularly small islands, and to help island communities obtain access to existing knowledge by means of information, computing, and telecommunications technology as well as through more traditional forms of communication." Still in the process of being formed, the Island Web Consortium seeks to become a comprehensive gateway for island information resources, and to develop an effective search tool to lead users through the hundreds of sites which might be used by island constituents. The progress of the Island Web Consortium can be followed by subscribing to their listerv, IWC-L. Directions for subscribing can be found in the "Related Mailing Lists" section, below.
The Islands and Small States Institute
The Islands and Small States Institute
Foundation for International Studies
Old University Building
St Paul Street
Valletta VLT07
Malta
Tel +356- 234121/2
Tel +356- 248218
Fax +356-230551
Email:Ibri1@um.edu.mt
The Islands and Small States Institute promotes research and training on economic, social, cultural, ecological and geographical aspects of islands and small states. Based at the Foundation for International Studies at the University of Malta, the institute evolved from the Foundation's Islands and Small States Programme which had been set up in 1989. In 1993, the Programme was restructured as an Institute with the principal aim of enabling the oganisation to offer academic courses. Among its other activities, the Islands and Small States Institute organizes international conferences, training workshops and seminars on themes related to islands; runs programs leading to a postgraduate diploma, and to academic degrees in island and small states studies; operates a network of communication between institutions and individuals engaged in research and training related to the aims of the institute; undertakes consultancy assignments for international organizations; presents scientific papers at, and participates regularly in, international conferences on islands and small states affairs; publishes Occasional Papers on Islands and Small States Studies ISSN 1024-6282); and collaborates with the Scientific Council of Island Development, based at UNESCO, in the publication of Insula, the International Journal of Islands Affairs (ISSN 1021-0814).
INTERNET SITES OF ISLAND INFORMATION NETWORKS
A few of many sources of electronic information on island information networks.
Island Resources Foundation
http://www.irf.org/
International Centre for Island Studies
http://www.islandstudies.org/
The Islands and Small States Institute
http://www.comnet.mt/issi/
The Small Island Development States Network
http://www.sidsnet.org/
The Alliance of Small Island States
http://www.aosis.org/
United Nations Sustainable Development: Small Islands
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sids.htm
ISLANDS: Access to information on islands and small island developing
States (SIDS) especially from within the United Nations system.
http://www.unep.ch/islands.html
International Scientific Council for Islands Development
http://www.insula.org/
CounterPart International, Inc.
http://www.counterpart.org/
Island Web Consortium
http://www.ecdpm.org/iwc/iwcpro.htm
Small Islands Information Network
http://cygnus.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Comp_Articles/Small_Islands.html
U.K. Overseas Territories Conservation Forum
http://www.ukotcf.org/
Island Web Creations
http://www.isn.net/islandweb/
Clean Islands International, Inc.
http://www.islands.org/cii/ciipage.htm
Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands
http://www.unesco.org/csi/index.htm
CEPNET: Information Systems for the Management of Marine and Coastal
Resources
http://www.cep.unep.org/programmes/cepnet/cepnet.html
Related Mailing Lists
IWC-L: The Island Web Consortium listserv
Send an email message to listproc@upei.ca with a blank subject line and the message "subscribe iwcl firstname lastname" in which: you omit the quotes; iwcl is IWCL (not one); and you substitute your own names for "firstname lastname."
SIDSNET Issues in the Caribbean.
This list is by invitation only; check with carol.james@undp.org.tt for details.
ISLEL: The Internet discussion group for participants in the ISLE Program.
To join the group, send an email message to listproc@upei.ca with a blank subject line and the message "subscribe isle-l firstname lastname" in which: you omit the quotes; isle-l is ISLE-L (not one); and you substitute your own names for "firstname lastname."
Related Books and Journals
Title: Occasional Papers in Islands and Small States Studies.(ISSN
1024-6282).
Copies can be ordered from the Islands and Small States Institute,
University Building, St Paul Street, Valletta, Malta
tel: +356 248218 fax: +356 230551
email: lbrig1@um.edu.mt
Title: insula - International Journal of Island Affairs. (ISSN
1021-0814)
Distributed free to members of the International Scientific Council for
Island Development. Contact address of Editor:
c/o MAB - UNESCO 1, rue Miollis, 75732 Paris Cedex 15, France
tel +33 1 4568 4056 fax +331 4068 5804
e-mail: insula@speedy.grolier.fr
Title: Small Islands, Big Issues : Crucial Issues in the Sustainable Development of Small Developing Islands. Helsinki : UNU/World Institute for Development Economics Research, [1995]
Title: Insularity and Development : International Perspectives on Islands / edited by Emilio Biagini, Brian Hoyle. London ; New York : Pinter, 1999.
Title: Sustainable Tourism in Islands and Small States / edited by Lino Briguglio ... [et al.]. London ; New York : Pinter, 1996.
Current Conferences in island Information Networks and Island Issues
October 16-20, 2000. Islands of the World VI Conference:"Small
Islands in the Third Millennium: SHARING SOLUTIONS TO COMMON PROBLEMS,"
Isle of Skye, Scotland. Contact:
Graeme Robertson, International Small Islands Studies Association (ISISA)
ISLANDS VI Conference
Hazelmount
Heron Place
Portree
Isle of Skye
IV51 9EU
Scotland U.K.
Tel: +44 (0)1478 612898
Fax: +44 (0)1478 613254
E-Mail: graeme@islandstudies.org
September 28-October 1, 2000. "CALPE 2000: LINKING
THE FRAGMENTS OF PARADISE: An International Conference on Environmental
Conservation in Small Territories." John Mackintosh Hall, Gibraltar.
Sponsored by the Government of Gibraltar, organized by the Gibraltar Ornithological
& Natural History Society, with the support of the UK Overseas Territories
Conservation Forum. Contact:
Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society
Jew's Gate
Upper Rock Nature Reserve
P.O. Box 843
Gibraltar
email: gonhs@gibnet.gi
Fax: + 350 74022
http://www.ukotcf.org/conf2/default.htm
DEADLINE FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO Vol. 8 No. 2: March 1 2000
This directory reflects changes and additions to the INFOTERRA Directory of National Focal Points distributed by INFOTERRA/PAC, dated November 1998. Please check this information to verify that it is correct and up-to-date. If you have any changes or corrections, please notify the RSC as soon as possible. We will be happy to relay the information to the PAC.
NFP Directory
| Ms. Diann Black Layne Conservation Officer II Ministry of Planning, Implementation, and Environment Cecil Charles Building St. John's ANTIGUA, WEST INDIES Telephone: (268) 463-0907 FAX: (268) 462-9338 |
Mrs. Lynn Holowesko The Bahamas Environment, Science & Technology Commission Office of the Prime Minister P.O. Box CB 10980 Nassau THE BAHAMAS Telephone:(242) 327-4691 FAX:(242)327-4626 |
|
| Mrs. Atheline Mayers Permanent Secretary (Environment) Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources 4th Floor, Sir Frank Walcott Building, Culloden Road St. Michael, BARBADOS Telephone: (246) 431-7680 FAX: (246) 437-8859 E-mail: envdivn@caribsurf.com |
Jaime Jeffery Villanueva Fisheries Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Princess Margaret Drive, P.O. Box 148 Belize City BELIZE, CENTRAL AMERICA Telephone: 501-2-44552 FAX: 501-2-32983 |
|
| Mr. Ashton Lugay Forestry and Wildlife Division Ministry of Agriculture, Botanical Gardens Roseau COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA, WEST INDIES Telephone: (767) 448-2401, ext. 417 FAX: (767) 448-7999 |
Mr. Balgobin Parsand IAST Building, U.G. Campus, Turkeyen Greater Georgetown, GUYANA Telephone: (592 22) 5784, 2277, 2231 FAX: (592 22) 5785 E-mail: epa@sdnp.org.gy |
|
| M. Dalberg Claude Ministere de l'Agriculture et des Resources Naturelles et du Developpement Rural P.O. Box 1441 Port-au-Prince HAITI Telephone: 509-1-21867 FAX: 509-1-23599 |
Ms. Yolanda N. Mittoo Natural Resources Conservation Authority 53 1/2 Molynes Road P.O. Box 305 Kingston 10 JAMAICA, WEST INDIES Telephone: (876) 754-7546/52 FAX: (876) 754-7595 E-mail: nrca@infochan.com | |
| Mr. Edsel Daniel Physical Planning Officer Ministry of Finance, Development, and Planning Charlestown, Nevis ST. KITTS AND NEVIS Telephone: (869) 465-2521 FAX: (971 2) 466-7398 |
Mrs. Vanesta Moses-Felix Government Documentalist Government Information and Documentation Resource Centre Office of the Prime Minister Castries ST. LUCIA, WEST INDIES Telephone: (758) 453-1951 FAX: (758) 453-1614 E-mail: docentre@candwe.lc |
|
| Regional Service Centre (RSC): Seema Schappelle INFOTERRA/USA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20460 UNITED STATES Telephone: (202) 566-0544 FAX: (202) 566-0545 E-mail: library-infoterra@epa.gov |
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