A £228,500 Darwin Plus grant has been announced to support UK overseas territories in the Caribbean manage their marine fisheries and develop their fisheries in a sustainable manner as part of wider ambitions to grow the blue economy.
Speaking last week in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, Cefas CEO Tom Karsten and Deputy Premier and Minister of Natural Resources and Labour, Kedrick Pickering announced details of the UK government grant which will deliver a three-year project from the 1st April 2017 in three UK Overseas Territories in the Caribbean: the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) and Anguilla.
“The grant will support a healthy marine environment, food security, national economies and livelihoods for coastal communities. Cefas’ work under the Darwin project will target fisheries managers and fishers in Caribbean UK Overseas Territories to enhance their skills, knowledge, data and tools to achieve sustainable management of their (individually) commercially important fisheries.”
In the BVI, the Darwin Plus project will assess the current stock of conch and spiny lobsters in the Anegada Horseshoe Reef Fisheries Protected Area, the largest barrier coral reef in the Caribbean, and one of the largest on earth, to provide more robust data to inform management of the essential fishery. The project will further enable the BVI government to improve data collection and plan for continued sustainable use of these resources. All projects have been developed in collaboration with the relevant UKOT governments to support a legacy of sustainable fisheries and, improved environmental data and management.
The projects will draw on Cefas’ expertise in habitat mapping and fisheries management, to provide a picture of the health of these two critically important marine species and deliver bespoke training to complement national capabilities.
“Our ongoing relationship with the BVI government has given Cefas the opportunity to begin to understand the complex considerations the BVI government is exploring. I am delighted to formalise our very productive relationship with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and hope it further develops the long-term relations between Cefas and the Government of the Virgin Islands as we work together on future projects.”
Alongside the funding announcement, on the 9th November 2016, a UK–Government of the Virgin Islands Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed, further strengthening the commitment between the UK and BVI to enable sustainable marine management and will serve as a framework for collaboration and exchange of scientific and technical capability. This new collaboration and the upcoming Darwin Plus project, will draw on Cefas’ experience in the region, helping enable the Government of the Virgin Islands’ efforts towards sustainably developing the fisheries sector as a fundamental pillar of their economy. This work will build upon previous and current marine science projects in the region, including previous Darwin Plus work in BVI and Anguilla and Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme activity in Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia and Guyana.
Cefas have previously delivered Darwin Plus funded projects in BVI (DPLUS026) and Anguilla (DPLUS045) and have further experience of working in the Caribbean and other small island developing states through the UK government funded Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme.
Photo caption: 3D seabed visualisation from the British Virgin Island, created during the recently completed and Cefas led Darwin Plus project, showing the distribution of coral reef features
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Everyone loves traditions. They can signify a belief or behaviour with its roots steeped in history of years or people long gone but not forgotten. Unfortunately, one such tradition in New Zealand is leaving around 95% of our population living in cold, draughty homes and suffering from a slew of health related problems. What tradition is this? The one of viewing household heating as a luxury and only heating one room at a time.
If you have grown up in New Zealand or in fact, spent any decent length of time in a New Zealand home built in the 80’s or earlier you will have experienced being indoors with all doors and windows closed in the middle of winter and still feeling a draught around your ankles or shivering as everyone huddles around a heater.
Kiwis are a strong resilient people but sometimes traditions need to be broken. No longer do we have to sit huddled in the lounge everyone trying to get a portion of the heat from a single heat source – be it an open fire, a gas heater or an oil fin heater.
Central heating has long been established in Europe and Canada as being the best form of home heating. Because people and governments have seen the positive impact of having people live in warm, insulated homes the cost of installing central heating has reduced dramatically in these colder climates and it is a given that a home will provide an ambient all year round temperature.
New Zealand on the other hand often has a misconception about it that our temperatures are sub-tropical and we don’t have a need for central heating. The truth is though, that still a large proportion of our homes are not air tight and still remain with poor and inadequate insulation.
We can no longer rely on chopping the nearest tree down to provide fuel for a winter fire as many cities and regions in New Zealand have either phased out open fire places or are in the process of doing so.
What seems to be missing from the New Zealand market is a central heating system that is affordable for the average homeowner, and that is specifically designed with New Zealand’s temperatures and families in mind.
The reality currently faced by many who would like to have central heating in their homes is that they simply cannot afford the $8000 and $15,000 it requires for a central heating system to be purchased and installed to heat their homes.
C entral heating has the ability to provide heating throughout your entire home. It is not limited to just heating one area. Because all central heating systems come with a thermostat and a timer the control and convenience is all yours. You can set the system to turn on at set times and to turn off or reduce its use when the family is outside the home following other pursuits like work, school or recreation. Many central heating systems now come with zone control which allows you to control the ambient temperature for certain parts of your home.
What is gaining popularity within New Zealand is the installation of heat pumps. Unless temperatures drop below zero (which can happen but not very often) heat pumps are an energy efficient and economically viable option to keeping your home warm and your family healthy.
If you are worried about your families health and comfort for this coming winter – give one of our consultants at Central Heating a call today. We can arrange a site visit to your home and discuss the options available for your home and area and explain how our products can let your family enjoy winter again in your home. If health issues are paramount in your family – perhaps asthma is a winter nightmare for you or your children then do not hesitate to make contact. With a range of systems and a wealth of experience behind our knowledge Central Heating can custom design a home heating package for you that will fit your budget and your lifestyle.