Times of the Islands Winter 2022/23

green pages newsletter of the department of environment & coastal resources
As both a protected area and a Ramsar site, it offers
many functions and benefits which include habitats for
native and migratory biota, protection of the Islands from
storms and hurricanes, carbon sequestering and storage,
and cultural and historical relevance. Ecosystems within
the Ramsar site include coastal habitats, intertidal mangrove
forests and marshlands, shrublands, limestone
forests, pine rocklands, ponds, and blue holes. These
environments provide niche habitats for marine fishes,
crustaceans, reptiles, and migratory birds like flamingos
and ducks. In order to better understand the Ramsar site
and its threats, DECR is using both on-the-ground data
collection and GIS imagery to remotely sense changes to
the site over time.
The Darwin Plus Project 129, “Understanding
Ramsar Wetland Dynamics for Marine Conservation and
Environmental Resilience,” aims to provide more detailed
scientific research and exploration of the reserve, to provide
evidence for future conservation efforts. The Ramsar
site, like many wetlands, is threatened by the looming
and ever encroaching effects of climate change, urbanization,
and pollution. Forested areas are threatened by
fragmentation when development occurs; water bodies
above and below ground are threatened by contamination;
and poaching and overharvesting puts wildlife
populations at risk. Climate change also produces many
long-term changes, including rises in temperature, fluctuations
in drought and precipitation cycles, wildfires, sea
level rise, fluctuations in the production cycle of plants,
and changes in spawning and migration cycles of animals.
Environment Systems Ltd. (ES) has been partnering
with the Department of Environment & Coastal Resources
(DECR) of the Turks & Caicos Islands Government for
almost eight years on various projects focusing on mapping
and GIS technology. Along with DECR and ES, other
international agencies are partnering on this project to
gather data and samples, identify areas at risk, and produce
interactive maps modelled to project how climate
change will affect the Ramsar site over the course of the
next 80 years. The other organizations involved (Joint
Nature Conservation Committee, Marine Conservation
Society, University of Exeter, and Wavehill) contribute
to the overall technological output, data management,
In November 2022, Environmental Systems team members visited TCI. The workshop included an exciting field day where they visited five
very different habitats in the Ramsar site.
DODLY PROSPER
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