Alison Beresford reports back from a sabbatical trip working with Natasha Constant, to support work in partnership with the Turks and Caicos National Trust to conduct social science research on the value of East Caicos to island communities.
This was probably the question I was asked most often in the run up to my sabbatical and I must admit that not long ago, I would have struggled to put it on a map too.
Turks and Caicos is a UK Overseas Territory that lies to the south-east of the Bahamas in the Caribbean and consists of over 40 low-lying islands. It has a total population of less than 50,000 people, with most people living on Providenciales and Grand Turk. Many of the smaller islands (and one big one) are uninhabited. And that one big uninhabited island - East Caicos - was the reason for our visit.
Map of the Islands (c) Visit TCI
At 83 km2, East Caicos is the largest uninhabited island in the Caribbean, although it has supported people in the past. Lucayan people are thought to have settled there from around 500-800 AD until the arrival of Europeans in the early 1500s decimated their population through disease and enslavement. In the late 1800s, East Caicos was briefly occupied as the caves were mined for guano (bat droppings which make excellent fertiliser), part of the island was worked as a sisal plantation (providing fibres to make rope), and cattle were introduced.
A locally driven management plan
East Caicos is unique and precious. A positive future vision for the island can be realised if its natural and cultural heritage, and the needs and values of the people of the neighbouring islands are recognised and at the heart of any plans. That’s why the Turks and Caicos National Trust (TCNT), RSPB and The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) have joined forces as part of The East Caicos Wilderness Area project, to help create a locally driven management plan for East Caicos.
A participatory resource use plan requires knowledge of what and where resources are, and their value. Basic maps and ecological data of the island exist, but the remoteness and logistical challenges of accessing the island means relatively little has been written or mapped. However, people from South, Middle and North Caicos, especially fishermen, have been visiting East Caicos for generations and have a wealth of knowledge about the island and surrounding waters.
In May 2023, together with TCNT, we ran workshops inviting people from the above islands to share their stories about East Caicos, particularly those with knowledge of the history and present-day use of the island.
We used a process called participatory mapping to help communities represent their local, traditional, and spatial knowledge and capture a wealth of detailed information. Satellite maps of the island were used initially followed by people drawing on physical maps to identify places important for harvesting and gathering food and materials such as fish and plants, for generating income, for supporting the environment or providing habitats for wildlife, and for cultural value.
Mapping workshop on Middle Caicos (c) Dodley Prosper
The maps precipitated tales of the forefathers who worked in the sisal plantations in Jacksonville. In the late 1880s, cattle ranching became prominent on the island to provide meat for the surrounding islands. After the abandonment of the island, cow herds existed but were later hunted for sport and meat. Tales of inland exploration, camping and hunting were regaled. The locations of shipwrecks from Bermuda and Spanish galleons that carried sisal to the island were mapped, valuable for history, and recreational dive tourism. The participants were keen for historical and cultural stories - largely unknown to local islanders and younger generations – to become a resource to be shared as part of the history of Turks and Caicos Islanders in schools.
Discussions surrounding the maps in collaboration with Turks and Caicos National Trust and local fishers (c) Sarah Ali Cassam
The waters surrounding East Caicos are important fishing grounds for lobster, conch and bone fishing. Meticulous details for harvesting conch were described, including rest periods to allow the conch to recover, a local system for preventing overfishing. Fishers noted the important role mangroves play for spawning lobsters and fish, as well as buffering stormy seas and currents during the hurricane season to protect the other islands. Fishers identified a breadth of potential livelihood opportunities to bolster their income, such as boat tours, fishing, snorkelling, land exploration, birding and nature watching tours.
Local people want a future for East Caicos that allows them to continue to improve their livelihoods, but also protect the natural environment instrumental to securing their way of life. The maps created, and stories shared through the workshops, will be digitised and transcribed so that they can be used, alongside information from ecological surveys, to inform the development of the participatory management plan for East Caicos.
Working with communities in this way was new to me. When we started out, we didn’t know if people would turn up to the workshops, how much they knew about East Caicos, or how interested they’d be in the project. But I was overwhelmed by the way people gave up their time to talk to us, how generous they were with their knowledge, how deep their connections to the land and sea were, and how passionate they were that even though most wanted to see some kind of development to bring jobs and opportunities, they didn’t want it to be at the expense of the natural environment or their cultural history.
We thank the Turks and Caicos National Trust who helped co-develop and organise the workshop and the fisherfolk who gave their time and contributed their knowledge and discussions to the workshops. For further information about this research please contact Dr Natasha Constant. To learn more about the project in general, please contact Charlie Butt
This project was funded by the Darwin Plus Initiative.
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