Sombrero Anguillas First Ramsar Designation Presenter: Kafi S Gumbs - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Sombrero

Anguilla’s

First Ramsar Designation

Presenter: Kafi S Gumbs Designation: Director of the Department of Fisheries & Marine Resources Anguilla BOT Representation: United Kingdom Date: 1st June, 2015 Ramsar Convention 2015, Uruguay

Where in the world is Anguilla?

• Located: 18°N, 63°W
• In the Caribbean
• Forms part of the Lesser Antilles
• Most northern of the Leeward Islands
• East of Puerto Rico & the Virgin Islands
• Directly north of Saint Martin
• Anguilla is the mainland
• Surrounded by 8 small uninhabited cays
• Anguilla is 16 miles (26 km) long
• Widest point 3 miles (5 km)
• 35 square miles (90 km²)
• The island's capital is The Valley
• Human population 13,500
• Main economy is tourism
• Language spoken is English
• Currency used is the EC & USD
• Parliamentary dependency under

a constitutional monarchy

Historical Overview

• First settled by the Amerindians. Artefacts

dating back to 1300BC

• Columbus discovered them in ~1493 named it Anguilla(Eel)?
• French explorer Pierre Laudonnaire in 1565 named it Anguilla(Eel)?
• Settled by the British in 1650. Administered out of Antigua
• Federation of Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis
• No plantation slavery due to low rainfall & infertile soil
• 1967 Anguilla Revolution against going independent with St. Kitts.

Anguilla remains BOT

Introduction to Sombrero

Ecological significance of Sombrero

• Coral reef ecosystems
• Excellent fish habitats.migratory

species pelagics, turtles, mammals

• Five nesting bird species e.g

Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster), Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus), Soothy Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus), Briddled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus), Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) (Spoede

1999 & Mukhida 2015)

• 900 pairs of nesting sea birds on Sombrero

(Spoede 1999)

• Bridled Tern 222 nesting pairs

(Mukhida 2015)

• Black Lizard (Ameiva corvina)
• Endemic species listed as vulnerable under the IUCN Redlist

Ecological significance of Sombrero

Sombrero Today

• Used for fishing, esp. sport

fishing

• Bird habitat
• Bird watchers and

researchers haven

Ramsar in Anguilla

Ramsar in Anguilla

• Established in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran
• Extended to Anguilla in 1991
• 41 Ramsar

sites designated across 20 Caribbean countries

• March 2014, Ramsar

Secretariat gave the ANT in collaboration with the DFMR, DOE & the RSPB US$30,000.00 for wetland conservation work in Anguilla

Ramsar in Anguilla

• ANT 1 year project to collect and analyse

local wetland wild life data & develop a framework to guide conservation action for the wetlands policy

• December 2014, ANT & RSPB stakeholder workshop to discuss

potential local Ramsar sites

• March 2015 ANT, DOE, DFMR, RSPB presented Sombrero to ExCo

as Anguillas first potential Ramsar site

Wetlands of Anguilla

• Salt ponds & mangrove forests
• Cave systems
• Seagrass

beds

• Sand dunes, bays & sandy beaches,
• Coral reefs
• Rocky marine shores
• Islands

Why Sombrero?

• Sombrero Island is owned by the crown
• Complement Memory of the World nomination
• Already protected (land & water) through the Marine Parks Act
• Very little GOA investment required
• Protect it from harmful developments e.g. Beal Aerospace (Spoede

1999)

Why Sombrero?

• Sombrero fulfils Ramsar

criteria i, ii, iii, iv, & vi

• Rare/unique examples of rear natural wetland types: coral,

rocky, marine shores (rock cliffs), karst & other subterranean hydrological systems (human-made & marine/coastal)

• Regionally typical species -

seabirds & reptiles

• Nationally protected (land & water) through the Biodiversity &

Heritage Conservation Act (2009)

Benefits of the designation to Anguilla

• Fulfillment of an important MEA obligation
• Increase international awareness about & respect for Anguilla
• Access to a vast array of technical expertise
• Access to Ramsar

Secretariat funding

• Increase Anguilla’s eco-tourism potential and potential economic

earnings

• New tourism venture

The way forward& next step

Benefits of Anguilla Wetlands

• Resources provisioning e.g. water through groundwater

replenishment, fish & plants with medicinal properties

• Nursery & refuge for fish, birds & other animals
• Source for fish stocks
• Recreational use for locals & tourists
• Preserve historical & cultural artifacts & practices e.g. salt

harvesting, fishing & pond boat racing

Benefits of Anguilla Wetlands

• Stabilize & protect shoreline during storms
• Help to prevent flooding
• A natural function that has been estimated to save the Anguillian

Government XCD $3m annually (Homer, 2005)

• Assist with pest control
• Provide Anguilla with potential for international recognition which

could be used to explore new tourism markets through wetlands- & eco- tourism development

Thank you…Questions?

Anguilla National Trust P.O. Box 1234 The Valley AI‐2640 Anguilla British West Indies

• Tel. 264 497 5297
• Skype. farah.mukhida
• Facebook. www.facebook.com/axanationaltrust
• Dept. of Fisheries & Marine Resources

Government of Anguilla The Valley ANGUILLA AI‐2640 Tel: (264)‐497‐2871 / 8705 Mobile: (264)‐583‐7070 Fax: (264)‐497‐8567 Email: kafi.gumbs@gov.ai