Challenges for the Island of Barbuda: A Distinct Cultural and Ecological Island Ecosystem at the Precipice of Change

Abstract

Barbuda is one of two major islands that comprise the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda. The island is known for its secluded pink and white sand beaches and, more recently, for Hurricane Irma (September 2017). The category five mega-storm decimated much of the island’s landscape and infrastructure, and the physical damage was widely publicized. Three years after Hurricane Irma, many challenges related to humanitarian aid, fiscal resources, and materials to rebuild remain. There are many natural resource commodity and human social challenges including those related to water resources, agriculture, marine ecosystems, feral animal populations, human health, tourism, and economics. This article includes some of Barbuda’s historical context and identifies a number of current critical challenges and recommendations for activities (approaches) that may advance a number of management practices. For example, the Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) and/or One Health approach(es) include social and fiscal mechanisms to implement programs, policies, legislation, and research in which multiple sectors of Barbuda could communicate and work together to achieve sustainable outcomes. Context is provided to substantiate humanitarian aid, scientific engagement, scientific progress, and political support for a semi-closed cultural socio-ecological island ecosystem at the precipice of change.

The disaster trap: cyclones, tourism, colonial legacies, and the systemic feedbacks exacerbating disaster risk

“…The disaster trap 11/24 However, what makes this example illuminating for this project is that while a gilded trap has long gripped Antigua, Barbuda has resisted -due in part to their starkly contrasting land-use 1 Sources for system components shown in Figure 2: economic growth, foreign direct investment, and development assistance (World Bank DataBank, 2021); tourism complex (ILO, 2020; Mohammed and Rei, 2020;Antigua & Barbuda Statistics Division, 2021); economic shock (ILO, 2020); pre-existing economy (Lightfoot, 2020); land tenure (Look et al, 2019;Lightfoot, 2020); land-use change (EJA, 2021;GLAN, 2021;own data -Google Earth Pro); wealth inequality (Thomas, 1994;Davies et al, 2007;Credit Suisse, 2018; climate change (Simpson et al, 2009;Wong et al, 2014;Birchenough, 2017;WHO and UNFCCC, 2020); geophysical shocks (CRED, 2021;NOAA, 2021); hazard defences; built environment (own data -OpenStreetMap, 2021); natural environment (Lewsey et al, 2004;Carr et al, 2009;Johnson et al, 2020;Hubbart et al, 2020;UN, 2021); damage (Look et al, 2019;Lightfoot, 2020); disaster capitalism complex and privatisation (Ferrando, 2018;Gould and Lewis, 2018;Gruenbaum, 2018Look et al, 2019;Sou, 2019;Brown, 2020;Lightfoot, 2020;Wright et al, 2020); monetisation of risk (World Bank and GFDRR, 2010;Antigua & Barbuda Census, 2011;CCRIF, 2021); build-back recovery (L...…”

“…With its sparse built environment, Barbuda has kept its beach systems more intact than other islands with intensive resort development (Gould and Lewis, 2018). The spatial extent of mangrove systems around both islands has declined steeply, and the ecological health of their reef and fish ecosystems remain vulnerable (Lewsey et al, 2004;Carr et al, 2009;Johnson et al, 2020;Hubbart et al, 2020; UN, 2021) -especially given climate change projections that suggest the future may bring less precipitation, hotter temperatures, and sealevel rise (Simpson et al, 2009;Wong et al, 2014;Birchenough, 2017;WHO and UNFCCC, 2020). National guidance advises shoreline set-backs, dune and vegetation conservation, and coastal stewardship, but seawalls are prevalent on Antigua (James, 2003;Simpson et al, 2012); the more rural Barbuda still appears largely free from seawalls.…”

The disaster trap: Cyclones, tourism, colonial legacies, and the systemic feedbacks exacerbating disaster risk

“…With its sparse built environment, Barbuda has kept its beach systems more intact than other islands with intensive resort development (Gould & Lewis, 2018). The spatial extent of mangrove systems around both islands has declined steeply, and the ecological health of their reef and fish ecosystems remains vulnerable (Carr & Heyman, 2009; Hubbart et al, 2020; Johnson et al, 2020; Lewsey et al, 2004; United Nations Data, n.d.) – especially given climate change projections that suggest the future may bring less precipitation, hotter temperatures, and sea‐level rise (Simpson et al, 2009; Wong et al, 2014; Birchenough, 2017; WHO and UNFCCC, 2021). National guidance advises shoreline set‐backs, dune and vegetation conservation, and coastal stewardship, but seawalls are prevalent on Antigua (James, 2003; Simpson et al, 2012); the more rural Barbuda still appears largely free from seawalls.…”

“…The prime minister, Gaston Browne, promised that Barbuda would be rebuilt "bigger and better" (Beauchamp, 2018) -but his plans prompted accusations of disaster capitalism (Gould & Lewis, 2018;Lightfoot, 2020). Browne invited F I G U R E 2 Empirical illustration of disaster trap relationships and dynamics from Antigua & Barbuda, constructed from various sources (Sources for system components shown in Figure 2: economic growth, foreign direct investment, and development assistance (World Bank DataBank, 2021); tourism complex (Antigua & Barbuda Statistics Division, 2021;ILO, 2020;Mohammed & Rei, 2020); economic shock (ILO, 2020); pre-existing economy (Lightfoot, 2020); land tenure (Lightfoot, 2020;Look et al, 2019); land-use change (EJA, 2021; GLAN, 2021; own data -Google Earth Pro); wealth inequality (Thomas, 1994;Davies et al, 2007;Credit Suisse, 2018; climate change (Birchenough, 2017;Simpson et al, 2009;WHO & UNFCCC, 2021;Wong et al, 2014); geophysical shocks (CRED, 2021; NOAA, 2021); hazard defences; built environment (own data -OpenStreetMap, 2021); natural environment (Carr & Heyman, 2009;Hubbart et al, 2020;Johnson et al, 2020;Lewsey et al, 2004;United Nations Data, n.d.); damage (Lightfoot, 2020;Look et al, 2019); disaster capitalism complex and privatisation (Brown, 2020;Ferrando, 2018;Gould & Lewis, 2018;Gruenbaum, 2018Lightfoot, 2020;Look et al, 2019;Sou, 2019;Wright et al, 2020); monetisation of risk (Antigua & Barbuda Census, 2011;CCRIF, 2021;World Bank & GFDRR, 2010); buildback recovery (Lightfoot, 2020); total cost of damages (CRE...…”