British Virgin Islands / Special Interests / Conservation

The National Parks Trust has a small number of projects designed to protect and restore the natural life of the islands, including a marine protection programme which has installed around 200 of buoys since 1993 to stop sailors using their anchors near corals and some efforts towards species restoration. This has included the re-intrduction of flamingos to Anegada. Twenty were brought back in 1994 and ten years later the population was reckoned to be nearer 100. They also have a programme to help the ‘critically endangered’ Anegada rock iguana, whose numbers have been badly reduced because the juvenile were being killed by feral cats, snakes and kestrels. The programme keeps hatchlings enclosed until they are around three foot long (they can grow to about five feet). They have released around 100 animals since 1997. The project is in the Settlement.

Darwin Anegada - The Darwin Initiative has recently set up a project in Anegada, one of the few remaining islands in the Caribbean that has not seen significant development. The Darwin Anegada projects document and monitor the birds, plants and sea turtles of Anegada with the eventual aim of protection by promoting an understanding of the uniqueness of the island and its environment. Funded by the British Government, Darwin Anegada undertakes research through visiting scientists and is run on the ground by the BVI Conservation and Fisheries Department, DEF.

Non-profit organisations and Government links:

Darwin Initiative, Anegada, www.seaturtle.org

BVI Department of Environment & Fisheries (DEF), Quastisky Building, Wickhams Cay, PO Box 3323, Road Town, Tortola, www.bvidef.org

British Virgin Islands Heritage Conservation Group, info@bvihcg.com, www.bvihcg.com