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Keshana?? Howell , Xavier Taitt and Zakia Clarke of Society Primary engrossed as they view a marine exhibition at the Sustainable Fishing Educational Expo.
Government has announced as priority, plans for the establishment of a National Park, stretching from Archer’s Bay, St. Lucy to Consett Bay in St.John.
Word of this has come from Minister of the Environment, Water Resources and Drainage, Dr. Denis Lowe.
Speaking at an inaugural Sustainable Fishing Educational expo at Consett Bay, today, Minister Lowe said the proposed National Park would seek to ensure that development activities in the environmentally sensitive Scotland District utilised sustainable land management approaches, while ensuring that residents enjoyed a high quality of life.
Patrons at the Consett Bay expo taste shark and snapper dishes compliments of chefs from the???? Savannah Hotel .??
"Accordingly, communities will be encouraged to boost their livelihoods in a way that is not detrimental to the local ecology, through the employment of a number of policy measures," he maintained.
Minister Lowe told the gathering of fisherfolk, their families, primary school children from the area and ministry representatives, that Government’s Soil Conservation unit had been operating in the Scotland District for over 50 years employing engineering techniques to ensure soil integrity and stability in the area.
"Their work, coupled with the work of the Natural Heritage Department, will ensure that greater focus is placed on the implementation of the National Park System for Barbados," the Minister revealed.
In addition to forming part of the proposed national Park plan, Dr. Lowe pointed out that the Consett Bay community and its neighbours had, for generations, operated as a cohesive, strong, proud entity, using its vibrant fishing heritage as a successful economic base.
"Evidence of the strength of this base is revealed by the increasing investments in social and physical infrastructure and business development over the years," the Minister added.
The proposed National Park, as well as scope for growth and development of Consett Bay, among other fishing communities, was among opportunities, policies, and issues discussed at an informal roundtable on the topic: "Sustainable Fishing in the Changing Climate" later in the afternoon.
The Expo’s was held under the theme "Fishing Sustainably in a Changing Climate."??cgaskin@barbados.gov.bb