To Hell and Back: towards protecting our natural assets through tourism?

Abstract

We have neglected our past and present, so that the future of our natural and built heritage is uncertain. Recent and current work, including an EU-supported joint project between the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos National Trust and UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum, are providing a future for natural and historical assets. We can now contemplate our future with a sense of optimism. We can imagine grandparents walking with their grandchildren, telling them tales of how their ancestors built forts with only their hands; school teachers leading trails of excited children through forests that have provided ecosystem services to generations.

The approach is to improve facilities for conducting ecologically sustainable visitor tours, with trained staff generating self-sustaining income; to provide and implement environmental educational and public awareness material, involving local consultations and designed to provide information to decision-makers, developers and planning authorities; and to implement conservation measures to provide increased protection for key vulnerable ecosystems.

In Cayman, one can send a postcard from a town called Hell. The preservation and sustainability generated through these projects is bringing the natural and built heritage a future, perhaps on a route to Hell and Back.

Keywords:

• tourism
• sustainable management
• natural heritage
• cultural heritage
• National Trust
• Caribbean

Acknowledgements

UKOTCF is a non-governmental organisation, which brings together partner organisations in the UK Overseas Territories (such as the partners in this project) and in Britain, works with these to advise and help in nature conservation. UKOTCF thanks the many partners, especially its volunteers and funding bodies (including in the case cited the European Union) who have contributed to this work.