PROGRAMS: Wetlands

The USVI Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) is happy to announce the creation of a new program designated to monitor wetlands in the territory. The Department has been sampling representative wetlands since 2002 through the “Inventory of USVI Wetlands and Riparian Areas” project funded by Section 319.

The inventory of the USVI wetlands and associated riparian areas is a joint project between Conservation Data Center, Island Resource Foundation and Eastern Caribbean Center of the University of the Virgin Islands, under supervision of the (DPNR).

The objectives of the project are to update and correct the mapping of 636 wetlands in the Virgin Islands Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) and design and test basic monitoring tools for wetland characterization in the US Virgin Islands. Additionally, the project is assessing the effect of stressors on watershed/wetlands areas, based on the condition of the existing landscape/biological community, plants and animals, supported by appropriate chemical and physical data. The indicator chosen for that analysis was the IBI (Index of Biological Integrity), which is a bioassessment measure that integrates several biological metrics to indicate the site’s condition.

Recently, DPNR also received a grant from EPA for further study the territory wetlands. This is the first grant awarded by the EPA Wetland Program Development to the USVI.

This award will assist DPNR in developing a comprehensive wetlands monitoring and assessment program for the territory. The project will lead to the adoption of an ambient wetland monitoring and assessment program that builds the Virgin Islands’ capacity to determine the causes, effects, and extent of pollution to wetland resources and develop pollution prevention, reduction, and elimination strategies.

The objectives of the project developed under this grant are:

1. prepare a comprehensive wetland characterization and assessment process, directly linking Territorial water quality; coastal zone management, and watershed management processes;
   

2. obtain information about the condition of territorial wetlands and associated riparian areas and their respective watersheds, archived in and accessible through GIS technologies integrated with other Territorial GIS systems, and link wetlands characteristics with relative Indices of Biological Integrity for Virgin Islands watersheds.

For further information on the USVI Wetlands Program contact
Dr. Monica Grasso or Syed Syedali at (340) 773-1082. Click here for additional online information.

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