Director of the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands, Dr. Cassander Titley-O’Neal presented on the topic “A Clean Ocean” at a Virtual Conference hosted by the UNESCO’s International Oceanographic Commission Facebook® page on April 28 and 29. 

Dr. Titley-O’Neal and Coordinator of the UN Environment’s Secretariat of the Cartagena Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region, Dr. Lorna V. Innis  made the presentation following the United Nations (UN) declaration of 2021 to 2030 as the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

The UN declaration was done to boost international coordination and cooperation in research and scientific programmes for better management of the ocean and coastal zone resources while reducing maritime risks. 

The presentation focused on:

• why a clean ocean is needed in the Caribbean
• the estimated loss in net revenue
• the Cartagena Convention as a tool to achieve a clean ocean in the Caribbean
• sources of land based pollution
• the reoccurring Sargassum blooms
• the use of ridge to reef concept as a tool to determine impacts on the marine environment 
• sources of marine pollution
• the impacts of land and marine pollution on the marine environment

Dr. Titley-O’Neal said she was honoured to have the opportunity to present with Dr. Lorna Innis while sharing her expertise on how environmental scientists use the ridge to reef concept to link impacts from human activities on land to the sea, and how mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs are linked. 

She said,  “It was indeed an honour and a privilege to present for the first time on the global stage with a fellow Caribbean scientist such as Dr. Innis who has such a wealth of knowledge and is well respected in her field.  Working with her and having knowledge of the work she does at the UN level, encourages me to continue to do the work that I do here in the BVI and the rest of the Caribbean.”

The National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands continues to preserve and manage designated natural and cultural areas, in order to improve the quality of life in the British Virgin Islands.