The 30th meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force will be held on St. Croix Tuesday through Friday, with the public invited to attend the group’s business meeting at 9 a.m. Friday at the Great Hall of the University of the Virgin Islands.
The conference was announced Sunday in a news release from Commissioner Alicia Barnes of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources.
At the business meeting, updates on coral reef initiatives from each jurisdiction will be presented and there will be a discussion on the Caribbean Challenge and a panel discussion on sustainable tourism and the role coastal and ocean resources play in the development of our sustainable tourism. Gov. Eloy S. Inos of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Gov. Eddie Baza Calvo of Guam, and Lt. Gov. Lemanu Peleti Mauga of American Samoa will attend and give remarks at the business meeting.
The public also can participate in the initial meeting of the Caribbean Regional Planning Body, Barnes said. The meeting is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to noon Thursday at the Beach Room of the Buccaneer Hotel.
Barnes said the group will discuss the needs of coastal and marine spatial planning. The meeting will be chaired by Edwin Almodovar of the National Resource Conservation Service, Barnes and Secretary Carmen Guerrero of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources of Puerto Rico.
The U.S. Coral Reef Task Force was established in 1998 by Presidential Executive Order 13089 to lead and coordinate U.S. efforts to preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems. Co-chaired by the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Commerce through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the USCRTF includes leaders of 12 federal agencies, the governors of seven U.S. states, territories and commonwealths, and leaders of three freely associated states.
In the U.S.V.I., Gov. John deJongh Jr. is the USCRTF member, with Barnes as his designee and the director of the Division of Coastal Zone Management, Jean-Pierre Oriol, as his point of contact to the both the task force and the U.S. All Islands Coral Reef Committee. The task force oversees implementation of the executive order and helps build partnerships, strategies, and support for on-the-ground action to conserve coral reefs and provide for the communities that rely upon them.
Themes for the week’s events include regional ocean governance, watershed management and balancing tourism and economic development with ocean resource management. Other activities during the week will include a USCRTF Watershed Partnership Initiative working group workshop and field trip, the USCRTF Steering Committee meeting, Friday’s business meeting and associated workgroup meetings and field trips.
According to Barnes’s statement, the meetings provide a venue to report on the status of ongoing coral reef initiatives, an opportunity to discuss resolutions and the status of past resolutions, and allow for public participation regarding coral reefs and coral reef conservation.
More information on the 30th U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting is available by contacting the Division of Coastal Zone Management at 1-340-773-1082 or 1-340-773-3367.
