Islands

• Islands are bodies of land totally surrounded by water but are smaller than continents
• Projection matters because the world is a 3D globe, but we often work with 2D representations on paper, leading to discrepancies in projecting a 3D image
• Authors define islands as land areas too small to sustain a supply of fresh water as merely beaches or sand bars if they are below about 10 ha
• Islands referred to in this course are significantly smaller than New Guinea and Greenland
• There are six major kinds of islands:

  • Continental islands were once connected to a continent and sit on the continental shelf
  • Tidal islands are connected to the mainland but are underwater at high tide
  • Barrier islands are narrow, parallel to coastlines, and can be made of sediment or coral
  • Oceanic islands , also known as volcanic islands, are formed by eruptions of volcanoes on the ocean floor.
  • Coral islands are low islands formed by corals in warm waters
  • Artificial islands are man-made for various purposes
• Island ecosystems include tropical rainforests, open woodlands, grasslands, freshwater lakes, salt marshes, mangroves, seagrass, and coral reefs
• Characteristics of island inhabitants include high endemism due to limited space, food supply, and isolation, as well as unusual adaptations like gigantism, dwarfism, flightlessness, and loss of dispersibility and defense mechanisms
• Threats to island ecosystems include climate change, sea-level rise, volcanism, human settlement, invasive species, agriculture, deforestation, and socioeconomic and political actions
• Larger islands may assume characteristics of continents, and the Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography concerns the effect of island size and distance on the number of species residing on an island
• Oceanic islands can form in subduction zones, where one tectonic plate is shifting under another
• Oceanic islands can also form in tectonic rifts, when tectonic plates rift or split apart from one another
• SUSTAINABLE

  DEVELOPMENT

  Meeting the needs of the present generation

  without compromising the ability of future

  generations to meet their own needs
• ISLE: GOAL

  PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE

  DEVELOPMENT IN ISLAND

  JURISDICTIONS THROUGH:

  1. Partner institutions - training human resources
  2. Enhancement of knowledge respecting the unique challenges and opportunities in island jurisdictions
  3. effective translation - action-oriented, communit-based, policies and programs
• SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

  a set of strategies which respond to five broad requirements

  1. Integration of conservation and development

  2. Satisfaction of basic human needs

  3. Achievement of equity and social justice

  4. Provision of social self- determination and cultural diversity

  5.Maintenance of ecological integrity
• If sustainable development

  focuses on the future, does that

  mean we lose out now?

  NOT NECESSARILY.

  Sustainable development is about finding better ways of doing things,

  both for the future and the present.

  We might need to change the way we work and live now, but th

  mean our quality of life will be reduced,
• LIVELIHOOD

  An occupation, work or other means by which one

  earns income to provide the necessities
• In 1957, the Brundtland Commision’s Advisory Panel on Food, Agriculture, and Environment developed Sustainable Livelihood Security as an integrating concept with these meanings:

  LIVELIHOOD

  adequate stocks to

  meet magic needs

  SECURITY

  secure ownership or

  access to resources
• EQUITY

  Dealing with justice and fairness, where the

  opportunities of living and treatment is not equal

  for all people
• Reality

  • One gets more than is needed, while the other gets less than is needed. thus, a huge disparity is created.

  Equality

  • The assumption is that everyone benefits from the same supports. That is considered to be equal treatment.

  Equity

  • Everyone gets the support they need, which produces equity.

  Justice

  • Everyone don’t need support or accommodation to see something because the cause(s) of the inequity is addressed. The systemic barrier has been removed.
• Equity in Sustainability

  development opportunities between present and

  future generations (intergenerational equity)

  equal access to resources now between different

  groups within the society (inter-societal equity)
• (SIDS)

  SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES

  Group of small island countries that seem to share similar

  sustainable development challenges

  
  

  • First recognized as a distinct group of developing countries at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992
  • Face similar economic difficulties to those of developing countries
  • They have their own peculiar vulnerabilities and characteristics
• UNDP defines Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as “small island states and territories that often face special environmental and developmental pressures due to their size, isolation, susceptibility to external shocks and vulnerability to climate change.”
• Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are defined as “States that occur almost entirely on low lying coastal zones, and/or islands highly exposed to climate change related sea level rise, cyclones and storm surges”. They also have unique social vulnerabilities such as high population density, limited land area, scarce natural resources, specific environmental problems and special economic features including tourism dependence, fisheries importance, shipping transport, offshore financial centres and reliance on imported goods and services.