| "Our real challenge is the question of how to strike a balance between development and the environment." | |
| Lelei Peau, American Samoa Department of Commerce |
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Thousands of miles, diverse cultures, and a variety of geographic characteristics often separate coastal resource managers working to protect U.S. islands in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Despite these obstacles, managers in this region have developed a unique bond, sharing information, resources, and ideas that have been important to their successes in the past decade.
"The islands in many ways are different, but we all have the same basic problems," says Mike Ham, recently retired administrator of Guam's Coastal Management Program. "We're surrounded by ocean and we're isolated. The entire island is considered a coastal zone, so we can't go inland to take problems away from the marine environment. All but Hawaii are territories or commonwealths, so we don't have the same political system as the mainland. All of this helps to bind the islands together. We have become natural allies."
There are six islands or island groups under U.S. sovereignty with coastal zone management programs: Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific; and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. Hawaii and Puerto Rico have the largest coastlines, with 1,052 miles and 700 miles respectively. Guam and American Samoa have the smallest with 110 and 126 miles of coastline. The populations of the islands range from 43,345 in the Northern Mariana Islands to 3,800,274 in Puerto Rico.
"We have one of the highest population growths per capita in the nation, if not the world," notes Lelei Peau, deputy director of the American Samoa Department of Commerce.
"Because of our small size, it takes fewer people to have a major impact on the environment," says Bruce Miller, director of the Hawaii Sea Grant Extension Service. "Many of the problems and issues that arise are more apparent because of our insular setting. It makes environmental impacts much easier to see, and makes us an ideal laboratory to address coastal resource issues."
Working to help address coastal issues in the region are Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Puerto Rico; two national marine sanctuaries, Fagatele Bay in American Samoa and the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Sanctuary, which was designated in 1992; as well as Sea Grant programs in Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
A Decade of Progress
Managers in the region have made tremendous strides in the 90s, addressing issues such as coastal erosion, sediment and nutrient loading in island waters, disposing of sewage, protecting and enhancing habitat and fisheries, and providing public access to beaches. But the area of success most commonly cited was education.
"Public information is the jewel of our program, and all the island programs," says Ham. "This is an area where we have been tremendously successful. We see the results in the words and actions of the kids growing up, as well as decision makers."
Island managers are finding numerous creative ways to reach school children, the general public, and local officials. One of Guam's most successful education programs is a monthly, prime-time television program (see related article in September/October 1999 Coastal Services). In American Samoa, managers work with elementary and high school students to produce an annual art and tide calendar, and have established a collaborative EnviroDiscoveries camp where students explore the marine environment.
Other examples include staff in Hawaii creating a State of the Reef Report that provides important information about the area's coral reefs in an easy-to-understand format, and managers in the Northern Mariana Islands printing a widely used Shoreline Access Guide to Saipan. An annual conference on nonpoint source pollution in the Virgin Islands is so popular that it attracts attendees from surrounding islands, and managers in Puerto Rico train coastal zone rangers, who work to educate the public, as well as enforce environmental regulations (see related article in March/April 1999 Coastal Services).
Another success that managers cite has been the islands' coordinated effort to provide feedback and proposals to the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, which was created by presidential order in 1998 to help implement research, monitoring, mapping, conservation, restoration, and international measures to reduce human impacts on coral reefs.
"Our region has the most coral reef in the country," Peau explains. "We depend on the reef for our daily lives. It provides food, and it's a buffer for hurricanes and other coastal hazards. We are dedicated to preserving and protecting the coral reefs within our shores."
Janice Hodge, director of the Virgin Island Division of Coastal Zone Management, says the islands joined together to form a coral reef coordinating committee so they could address their concerns in unison. "We feel as a committee we are able to provide a more unified voice. We've also been able to share our ideas with each other so that we don't duplicate efforts, and we are better able to maximize the use of our limited resources."
Scanning the Seas Ahead
Managers say they hope to build on this collaborative success to help address the significant issues the islands will face in the coming decade. Population growth and the resulting impacts on the environment are the primary concerns of most of the managers in the region. "Our real challenge is the question of how to strike a balance between development and the environment," Peau says. "The two go hand in hand. You can't work on one without taking care of the other."
Planning and mitigating for the numerous natural disasters that impact the islands, such as hurricanes and landslides, is a major concern for the future. Impacts from global climate change and sea level rise are already being felt in the islands, and will be on many managers' agendas. Other issues the islands will be addressing include water quality; overfishing; habitat degradation; the need for technologically trained staff; and pollution control.
"We're doing a much better job with the environment than I think we give ourselves credit for," Ham says. "Maybe we haven't done as much as we could have, but when you look at how much has been done, you realize coastal management has been an astounding success. We still have many challenges ahead, but it's important to acknowledge how far we've come."
