McElroy deAlbuquerque 1990 Sustainable SmallScale Agriculture Caribbean Islands MALAS
...protection is extremely important in the small OECS islands because they lie in a hurricane corridor. Reefs are especially valuable because they build islands, deposit sand, produce food and habitats, and promote tourism. They form the foremost buffer against sea swells. Seagrass beds, mangroves, and beach vegetation hold shorelines in place and absorb salt spray.
In some islands, these relationships have been seriously altered by development thrusts, and natural processes have broken down. Indiscriminate bottom dredging and reef blasting for sand and for constructing harbors and tanker ports have undermined this protective shield, destabilized shoreline ecology, and reduced marine and beach grove productivity (Towle, 1985). The coastal over-urbanization characteristic of Caribbean islands (Potter, 1989) has, in some instances, produced salt water intrusion contaminating potable water supplies, and discolored and depleted nearshore lagoons through the excessive runoff of untreated sewage discharge. A1l such violations of these natural marine and terrestrial buffers provide evidence of past planning failure and
o
21
point to the need to seriously integrate ecological considerations in a strategy designed for sustainable agriculture.
Policy Implications
Given the integrated systems framework, ecological fragility, and the long run advantages of a diversified economy, several new directions are necessary. First...