Beach Profile
The beach profile can essentially be divided into two, the backshore and the foreshore but must also include the seaward adjacent nearshore environment, as they are closely interlinked. The backshore is the landward section of the beach and tends to be relatively horizontal. The seaward section of the beach is the foreshore, and depending on the wave energy hitting the beach, tends to be relatively steep sloping. The nearshore environment extends from the shoreline to shallow coastal waters.
Here are a few of the many factors that affect the shape of the beach profile:
* Grain size (in general, the coarser the constituent grains, the steeper the foreshore)
* Wave energy (in gereneral, the higher the wave energy, the steeper the foreshore due to increased erosion)
Biodiversity
Shorthand for Biological Diversity. This is a term used to describe the variability (number, variety, and genetic variation) among living organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part of. This includes the variability within and between species and within and between ecosystems.
Biological Resources
Genetic resources, organisms, or parts thereof, populations, or any other biotic component of ecosystems with actual or potential use of value for humanity.
Biodiversity Hotspot
An area that supports natural ecosystems that are largely intact and where native species and communities associated with these ecosystems are well represented. They are also areas with a high diversity of locally endemic species, which are species that are not found or are rarely found outside the hotspot.
Carrying Capacity
The capacity of natural resource systems to handle development initiatives without deterioration of the resources or the ecosystem.
Civil Society
The range of community, non-governmental and other organisations not directly linked to government and not engaged in generating profits that accrue to individuals.
Climate Change
Climate change is a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere. It is in addition to the natural occurring climate variability which occurs over comparable time periods.
Conservation
Conservation is the protection, preservation, restoration, management and wise use of all living and non-living, cultural and human resources.
Coral Bleaching
Coral bleaching refers to the loss of colour of coral. This is caused by the expulsion of the unicellular algae due to stress. Under stress, corals may expel the unicellular algae (zooxantheallae) causing the discolouration of the coral and therefore leading to a lighter or white appearance hence, bleaching. These stresses can include:
* increased or reduced water temperatures (can be due to global warming)
* increased sedimentation often from silt runoff
* pathogen infections
* changes in salinity
Deforestation
The direct human-induced conversion of forested land to non-forested land (UNFCCC)
Desertification
The degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, resulting from various factors including climatic variation and human activites (UNFCCC)
Drainage Basin
Also known as a catchment area the drainage basin is the area of land that drains water, sediment, and dissolved materials to a common outlet, usually a body of water i.e. a river, stream, pond, reservoir, wetland, sea or ocean.
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms (biotic factors) in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical (abiotic) factors of the environment. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has brought the importance of ecosystems as a whole to the forefront of conservation and the Convention defines ecosystem as a “dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit”.
Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services are functions an ecosystem provides and these can fall under 5 categories:
1. Provisioning e.g. food, energy, elements of pharmaceuticals
2. Regulating e.g. carbon sequestration, decomposition, nutrient cycling
3. Supporting e.g. purification of water and air, pollination
4. Cultural e.g. recreation (including ecotourism), scientific discovery
5. Preserving e.g. genetic and species diversity for future use
Eco-tourism
Travel undertaken to witness sites or regions of unique natural or ecological quality, or the provision of services to facilitate such travel
Endemic Species
An endemic species is one that is native or restricted to a particular area and not naturally found elsewhere. Endemic types or species are especially likely to develop on islands because of their geographical isolation. Endemics can easily become endangered or extinct because of their restricted habitat and vulnerability to the actions of man, including the introduction of new organisms. Endemic organisms are not the same as indigenous organisms. An endemic species to Antigua and Barbuda is the Antiguan Racer Snake (Alsophis antiguae – http://environmentdivision.info/?q=node/59) which is only found on Great Bird Island in the North Sound.
Environmental Impact Statement
A document required of major projects that will significantly affect the environment in either a positive or negative way. It is utilized for decision making by identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other relevant impacts of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made.
Evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration is the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the earth’s land surface to atmosphere. Evaporation is the movement of water to the air as water vapour. Transpiration is the movement of water in a plant and the loss of water vapour through the leaves’ stomata.
Food Security
Food security is the access by all people at all times to sufficient food for an active healthy life (The World Bank, 1986). One is considered food secure when one does not live in hunger or fear of starvation.
Green Accounting
Green accounting is financial accounting systems which include a monetary value of natural resources and environmental assets.
Greenhouse Gas
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide or methane, which reduce the loss of heat into space causing a warming of the earth’s atmosphere through the greenhouse effect.
Gray Water
Also known as sullage, gray water is non-industrial wastewater that is produced by domestic processes, usually composed of wash water from kitchen, bathroom, and laundry sinks, tubs, and washers.
Groundwater
The supply of fresh water found beneath the Earth’s surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations, usually in aquifers, which supply wells and springs. There is a growing concern over ground water contamination as it is a major source of drinking water, and agricultural or industrial pollutants, for example, can easily get into this water source.
Global warming
Global warming is the increasing average temperatures of the earth’s atmosphere which has significant implications for sea level rise, rainfall patterns, and the incidence of extreme weather (including hurricanes) in the Caribbean. The term is most often used to refer to the warming predicted to occur as a result of increased emissions of greenhouse gases due to anthropogenic activities. Scientists generally agree that the Earth’s surface has warmed by about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the past 140 years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently concluded that increased concentrations of greenhouse gases are causing an increase in the Earth’s surface temperature.
Habitat
The natural environment which is inhabited by a particular species or organism, or the physical environment that surrounds (influences and is utilized by) a species population.
Hotspot
A hotspot is an area that has particularly high concentrations of pollutants or an area that has is especially rich in total number of species.
Indigenous Species
An indigenous species is an organism which is native to a region or ecosystem. Indigenous species are not necessarily endemic. Endemic species are those that are exclusively native to the biota of a specific place and an indigenous species may occur in more than one locale. An indigenous species of Antigua and Barbuda is the West Indian Tree Duck (Dendrocygna arborea).
Integrated Waste Management
Integrated waste management is the management of waste using a variety of practices to handle municipal solid waste; can include source reduction, recycling, incineration, and land filling.
Invasive Species
An invasive species is a species that does not naturally occur in a specific area and whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm, or harm to human health. For example in Antigua and Barbuda the lemon grass
Land Degradation
Land degradation is the wearing down of the land by land clearance, such as clear cutting and deforestation, agricultural depletion of soil nutrients through poor farming practices, overgrazing by livestock, conversion of lands to agriculture or for development, irrigation, pollution and vehicle off-roading. The degradation of land results in it becoming less productive and it has significant impacts on receiving water courses (rivers, wetlands and lakes) since soil, along with nutrients and contaminants associated with soil, are delivered in faster and in larger quantities through these water courses.
Local Area Plan
A Local Area Plan (LAP) sets out a scheme for the planning and sustainable development of a specific area. The policies or objectives in the LAP are consistent with the Development Plan and is produced with the input of the public, interested bodies, and service providers among other stakeholder through consultations.
Multilateral Environmental Agreement
A formal agreement between three or more States governing the management of aspects of natural resources, or the environment in those States as referenced in the agreement. Caribbean States are signatory to several of these e.g. Cartagena Convention, Conventions on Climate Change & Biological Diversity
Polluter Pays Principle
The principle whereby those who cause pollution are responsible for the costs of managing the pollution they cause.
Protected Area
This is an area that is protected due to its importance environmentally, culturally or another similar value. The area can be protected on many different levels, by many different bodies of protection, by the enabling laws of each country or rules of international organization. For example, in Antigua and Barbuda there is the North East Marine Management Area (NEMMA) under the Fisheries Division (www.fisheries.gov.ag).
Renewable Energy
This is the type of energy that is derived from a source that is not depleted by the extraction of energy or the process used for extraction of the energy and can regenerate itself.
Sand Mining
Sand mining is a practice that is a major ecological problem. It is carried out due to the high demand in industry, construction, the use in replacing eroded coastlines and also in making new beaches. In Antigua and Barbuda sand is mined from beaches and inland dunes and dredged from ocean beds and river beds. Sand is also used to replace eroded coastline. Sand mining is one of the causes of erosion and it also affects the local biodiversity. For example, sea turtles that depend on sand beaches for their nesting.
Seagrass bed
Seagrass (also called turtle-grass) is a flowering marine plant that grows in shallow waters within the photic zone (because these plants must photosynthesize) where they cover large areas of the seabed and therefore called seagrass beds. The species of grass belong to the genera Thalassia and Diplanthera. The grasses not only have the leaves above the sand but extensive underground creeping rhizomes with roots that hold the sand on the sea beds in place. The stability they provide with their roots is very important but they also serve as an important habitat and the base for a large and complex food web.
These beds are hugely productive ecosystem supporting a range of species from all phyla, for example fish, algae, molluscs, bristle worms. Seagrass beds are also important as a food source in the food chain with animals such as manatees, fish, sea turtles, octopuses, sea urchins and crabs feeding and living on and in the grass beds.
Slash-and-burn
Slash-and-burn is an agricultural practise where the vegetation of an area is cut down and then burnt. This practise is done to prepare the land for new agriculture.
Species Diversity
Species diversity refers to the number and distribution of different species in a particular area and is also known as species richness.
Stakeholder
A stakeholder is any organization, governmental entity, or individual that has an interest in, or may be impacted by a given approach to environmental regulation, proposed projects, pollution prevention, energy conservation, etc.
Strategic Environmental Assessment
A holistic approach to environmental assessments which injects environmental considerations into decision-making regarding policy, programmes, national and regional development plans before the plans are fully developed. This is usually conducted before an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is undertaken and also usually feeds information into the EIA.
Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Bruntland Report, 1987).
Traditional knowledge
Traditional knowledge refers to traditions and practices that are long-standing and are of certain regional, indigenous, or local communities, encompassing the wisdom, knowledge, and teachings of these communities. It may be orally passed from generation to generation and sometimes it is expressed through stories, legends, folklore, rituals, songs, and even laws.
Terracing
Dykes built along the contour of sloping farm land that hold runoff and sediment to reduce erosion. The terraces are usually designed as a method of soil conservation.
Wastewater
Wastewater is used water from a home, community, farm, or industry that contains dissolved or suspended matter.
Wastewater Treatment Plant
A wastewater treatment plant is a facility containing a series of tanks, screens, filters, and other processes by which pollutants are removed from water. Most treatments include chlorination to attain safe drinking water standards.
Watershed
A watershed is the region of land that drains into a river, river system, or other body of water such as the sea or a pond.
Water Pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water with enough harmful or objectionable material to damage the water’s quality.
Water Resources
A water resource is a source of water (vapour, liquid, or solid) that is useful or has the potential for use such as the sea, rivers or aquifers.
Water Table
The level of groundwater below the Earth’s surface.
Wetland
An area that is saturated by surface or ground water and inhabited by vegetation adapted for life under those soil conditions such as swamps, marshes, and estuaries.
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