Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

National Parks Trust launches two-year Climate Change Project

National Parks Trust launches two-year Climate Change Project

The National Parks Trust on behalf of the Government of the Virgin Islands has partnered with Environment Systems Ltd based in Wales on a climate change initiative funded by the United Kingdom that seeks to deliver strategic, long-term outcomes for the natural environments of the Overseas Territories.

The climate change project is a two-year project which hopes to integrate resilience and ensure the design and management of protected areas in the BVI.

The title of the initiative is Integrating climate change resilience into protected area design and management.

In a press conference on Friday to conclude the week that consisted of workshops, Minister for Natural Resources Melvin Turnbull thanked NPTVI and Environment Systems Ltd for their partnership to make the valuable climate change data available to the public upon the completion of the project.

“What I feel is important is continuing to take the direction and drive to help the public understand the work that has been done and will be continuously undertaken by not just the NPTVI, but the entire partnership that we have, to address climate change,” Minister Turnbull said.

Turnbull commended NPTVI Director Dr Cassander Titley-O’Neal and team, adding, “I know [Dr Titley-O’Neal] has been doing a lot of work and I know that this is her passion. I want to extend a special thanks to the team from the UK for the work that is going to be done in the next two years. I want to ask the public to be patient and understand that this data that will be collected is all to help us”.

During her remarks, Dr Titley-O’Neal explained the importance of the partnership and its timeliness.

“This is a continuation of an existing partnership with Environment Systems Ltd, having partnered on a previous Darwin Plus project from 2018 to 2020 to help model recovery from hurricanes after the passing of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017,” she said.

“Climate change is impacting the BVI with more intensive storms and droughts, as seen by the floods and active 2017 hurricane season. This project will create a web dashboard that is specific to the BVI based on climate change modelling data. This work is intended to facilitate targeted Trust fieldwork within our 21-park network, inform decision-making based on available data, and raise public awareness,” Dr. Titley-O’Neal continued.

Meanwhile, Environment Director at Environment Systems Ltd Dr Katie Medcalf gave a presentation on the effects of climate change and explained how the data that will be gathered in the next two years can inform decision-making and help in the fight towards mitigation and building resilience toward climate change.

The press conference was held to conclude a full week of workshops. The workshops provided an opportunity for the teams to get stakeholder input into the process to ensure that the models developed and incorporated knowledge and recommendation of the Virgin Islands stakeholders. Some of the sessions with local stakeholders were discussion-based, while others are more technical, exploring the climate data and remote sensing imagery.

The climate change modelling web-based dashboard is one of the main outputs of this project and is anticipated to be a useful tool for all government departments requiring such knowledge, to ensure that climate change is integrated into every facet of our daily lives and work.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×