Human activities worsen climate change impact in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

By Michelle Nurse Last updated May 28, 2015

During the Christmas 2013 disaster, flood waters deposited large volumes of neatly cut logs into residential and commercial areas in St. Vincent. (Photo by : Kenton X. Chance/IPS)

KINGSTOWN – For 32 years, Joel Poyer, a forest technician, has been tending to the forest of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.[su_pullquote align=”right”]”Sometimes we hardly see any fish along the coastline, because there are no trees to cool the water for the algae to get food.” — Joel Poyer[/su_pullquote]

His job allows him a unique view of what is taking place in the interior of this volcanic east Caribbean nation, where the landscape mostly alternates between deep gorges and high mountains.

Poyer, a 54-year-old social and political activist and trade unionist, is hoping that during the 18 months before he retires, he can get the government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to focus on how human activities on the nation’s beaches and in its forests are exacerbating the impacts of climate change.