The Coral Cay Conservation (CCC) project which is to come on stream here in May this year is receiving a contributing 10,000 pounds from His Excellency the Governor Adrian Davis office.
This announcement was made on Monday, January 14, at Government House in Woodlands that the contribution was linked to the UK and the Montserrat governments focus to bring Montserrat back to pre-Hugo and volcanic financial stability. “…recall the strategic growth program is about Montserrat’s development, so it’s the specific packaging investments of both the UK government and the government of Montserrat hope will lead to the ultimate objective of getting Montserrat out of budgetary aid and towards financial independence which was of course enjoyed in 1980’s and the 70’s before Hugo and then the volcano…”
Governor Davis speaking to a gathering of more than 100 residents, said conservation does not trump growth and the two things can come together for the benefit of Montserrat.
He was at the time hosting two representatives of the Coral Cay Conservation, which is a charity established in 1986 to help protect the world’s coral reefs. Alistair Cole, Chief Executive Officer and Tristan Brown, Head of Operations spoke to the gathering about the programme, which will run for three years.
Cole explained that Coral Cay is self-funding and has been able to maintain its projects around the world through a successful ‘citizen science’ approach by using international volunteers to help collect the scientific data needed to develop and implement effective grass-roots conservation solutions.
The volunteers pay to work for the organisation for between two weeks to six months on expeditions, which in turn allows for CCC to offer scholarships to local residents to learn about coral reef conservation.
“We are committed to involving local stakeholders so that the communities we work with can benefit directly from our conservation efforts. We rely on a ‘bottom-up’ approach to conservation, with the belief that the only way to successfully preserve endangered ecosystems is by involving the local custodians throughout the process,” Cole said.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) which has been working in Montserrat for many years will be partnering on the programme with Coral Cay. From Ridge to Reef, will allow volunteers to study and gather data about Montserrat’s mountains, down to the coast line and the ocean.
Tristan Brown on the other hand explains that they take a collaborative process to gathering data and will be working with local fishermen and boat operators to learn about the waters around the island. Boat owners, caterers and compressor operators are some of the services that the project will also be utilising to support the management team as well as the volunteers.
