Ahead Of Small Islands Meeting In Mauritius, UN Points To Environmental Risks
In reports written before the devastating tsunami raced through the Indian Ocean last month, the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) warns of the toll tidal waves, cyclones and other natural disasters take on the economies
of small island nations, especially when accompanied by such man-made devastation as pollution, over-fishing and the
discharge of waste into bodies of water.
UNEP produced the reports on the small island developing states (SIDS) of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic, Pacific
and Indian Oceans, in the framework of the five-day UN meeting starting Monday in Port Louis, Mauritius.
The meeting will review the progress made since a similar conference in 1995 in Barbados lay down a programme of action
to tackle the particular problems these countries face.
"Many of these islands are low-lying, making them vulnerable to rising sea levels, storm surges and dramatic weather
events like the Indian Ocean tsunami. Climate change, with its anticipated increase in extreme weather events and rising
sea levels, is set to aggravate the problem," UNEP says.
All too often the islands are remote from other countries and their small and fragile economies are based on tourism and
a low number of exports, it says. On the other hand, they now depend heavily on imports, including buying fossil fuel,
and have limited access to natural resources, including land and water.
Population growth "has exceeded the carrying capacity of some islands," while others, despite abundant rainfall, lack
the means to store water and now face shortages, UNEP says.
After the needs of the tsunami sufferers have been met, UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer says, attention must turn
to "precious and economically important habitats such as coral reefs and mangroves, as well as facilities such as
chemical plants."
Healthy coral reefs and mangroves are said to help limit the coastal impact of some tsunamis.
The SIDS meeting comes at a time when Indian Ocean islands have suffered extraordinary damage from the 26 December
tsunami. The Seychelles' coral reefs that were just recovering from dangerous bleaching in 1998 have suffered again,
UNEP says.
"Juvenile fish death was high as these were thrown onto dry land by the tsunami. Some mangrove ecosystems were also
affected," it says, quoting Seychelles government assessments.
In regional reports, UNEP noted that shipping in the Caribbean is causing major pollution, made worse by "the presence
of major oil producing and exporting countries within the wider Caribbean, such as Colombia, Mexico, Trinidad and
Tobago, the United States and Venezuela" and the growing cruise ship industry.
"It is estimated that a typical cruise ship with 3,000 passengers generates each day between 400 and 1,200 cubic metres
of watery waste, including drainage from dishwashers, laundry, showers and washbasins, along with grease, medical and
dental waste," the report says.
In a significant natural disaster in the region, the damage Grenada suffered from Hurricane Ivan last September totalled
$3 billion, a figure far exceeding its annual gross domestic product (GDP).
In the Pacific, "unsustainable exploitation of fish is universal throughout the region," UNEP says, citing such
contributing factors as lack of regulation of subsistence fishing, which amounts to over 90 per cent of the catch in
some countries, and Western-style fisheries management in others.
Because of over-fishing, the catch has declined sharply in some countries and has led to a deterioration in the health
of island residents who have been eating less nutritious imported foods - mutton flaps, turkey tails, corned beef and
canned fish.
In some islands, the discharge of sewage and agricultural waste into bodies of water has increased the growth of toxic
algal blooms, which are being ingested by shellfish and fish and resulting in ciguatera poisoning, with its symptoms of
diarrhoea, nausea and gastrointestinal pains.
In both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions, container waste has emerged as a "massive new threat," with carelessly
discarded containers holding stagnant water, which is a breeding-ground for disease-carrying insects, UNEP says.