2. Benefits of beaches

Beach and shoreline erosion is a worrying problem for most small island states. The beach is one of the most valuable natural resources to sustainable tourism in the Caribbean. It is a buffer against rising sea levels, absorbing wave energy, regulating tidal flows and the rate of exchange of fresh water flows to the marine environment.
Beaches provide nesting sites to sea turtles and habitat for a number of other wild species. The stability of the beach is therefore critical to the health of nearshore ecosystems and the valuable services they provide. In recent years, however, both human actions such as sand mining, often done illegally, and hydro-meteorological events, have contributed to the degradation of beaches in several Caribbean islands. Sand mining remains a widespread practice and a major cause of beach loss in Saint Lucia. The practice promotes shoreline erosion, loss of coastal vegetation, saline intrusion into freshwater aquifers and increases the risk of damage and loss to private property and public infrastructure.
The effects of climate change will likely exacerbate beach erosion in the near future. The frequency and intensity of climate-triggered extreme events and calamities (floods, tropical storms, and storm surges), and loss of coral reef systems due to over-fishing and land-based pollution sources are bound to increase significantly in the future with devastating consequences for low-lying unarmored coastal beaches.
While most people enjoy the beach, there remains a general lack of awareness of the magnitude of the problem or what can be done to protect it. The absence of an integrated coastal zone management plan, haphazard development along the coastline and no clear policies on beach and natural resources management will likely hamper efforts of local communities to protect these natural resources. A first order response is to raise awareness levels within communities and among stakeholders of their roles and how they may impact or be impacted by beach loss. This will likely create good traction for any future policy actions.
At the core of the Caribbean Aqua-Terrestrial Solutions (CATS) program is the need to increase community responsiveness to better facilitate the implementation of sustainable climate-resilient management standards to safeguard natural resources. CATS support for this initiative will promote capacity and knowledge transfer. The development of this high impact video documentary will become a useful learning tool to support climate-resilient management of natural resources in schools and as a training aid for resource managers throughout the CATS participating CARICOM Member States.