Darwin Plus 180 - Climate Change workshop - project results

NPTVI coordinated a week long climate change workshop last week, as part of the final activities under the UK Darwin Plus funded project DPLUS 180 - ‘Integrating climate change resilience into protected area design and management’.

This project has generated Virgin Islands specific climate change modelling data that will be displayed on a web dashboard to facilitate targeted NPTVI fieldwork, inform decision making at national levels, and raise public awareness about the potential impacts of climate change within the VI.

The week included a 3-day workshop and individual meetings, representing 23 people from 8 Government Departments and organisations.

Dr. Katie Medcalf from Environment Systems Ltd., UK facilitated the week long workshop with colleague Samuel Pike. Both have experience in climate change scenario modelling, biodiversity mapping and remote sensing

Interactive activities gathered participant input on key messages about a changing climate to share with the public.

Exploring the data - looking at satellite imagery of the VI and the role nature plays in reducing the impacts of increased rainfall, flooding and higher temperatures.

Discussions about how protected areas and sustainable building practices can help to reduce the impacts of climate change within the Virgin Islands.

NPTVI Director Dr. Cassander Titley O'Neal spoke with the media at the end of the week to share the project outputs, which include a web mapping page on climate change that is nearing completion and an educational cartoon on climate change and what we can all do to mitigate the impacts.