A National Ecosystem Assessment of the UK Overseas Territory Montserrat: Earth Observation based mapping and interpretation

The Caribbean Overseas Territories (Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat and Turks and Caicos) the South Atlantic Overseas Territories (Falkland Islands, St Helena, Ascension, Tristan and South George) are highly dependent on the natural environment for their economic and social wellbeing.

The Territories are also reliant on very limited manmade assets.

In the Caribbean in particular these manmade capital assets, and human life, are vulnerable to both natural and manmade disasters.

The natural environment is itself susceptible to damage from human activities - resulting in loss of value to the economies of the Territories - but also provides a key role in protecting man made assets and protecting human well-being.

The OT CSSF Programme is supporting a series of work 'Enhancing Economic Security through Environmental Resilience' in the Overseas Territories with the intention to improve long-term economic planning to support growth and diversification.

Embedding the role of the natural environment in economic and spatial planning through existing or new policies or legislation is one element of this support, the objective being to protect and enhance the value of the Overseas Territories vital natural capital.

JNCC has initiated a suite of projects under the CSSF Programme to map and value the OT's natural assets (natural capital) through integrating satellite data, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and economic assessments of environmental goods and services (derived from natural capital) with the following objectives: i. establish the Estimated Total Economic Value (eTEV) of the terrestrial and marine natural environment to each of the ten listed Countries & Territories; ii. identify the priority natural capital assets and measurable attributes (Natural Capital Metrics) to monitor changes in value through time; iii. integrate natural capital valuations into national mapping (GIS) to define the spatial distribution of these natural assets (Value Mapping) and to promote the integration of such valuations into planning and policy making to improve long-term economic growth.

This project is part of the first phase working produce a National Ecosystem Assessment for Montserrat.

The 'Emerald Isle of the Caribbean', Montserrat is a highly biodiverse, volcanic & mountainous island of 103km2, located between the islands of Nevis and Guadeloupe, 43 km south-west from Antigua (Bettencourt & Imminga-Berends, 2015).

Montserrat's ecosystems provide an important source of income through the exploitation of its unique biodiversity to promote tourism as well as supporting the livelihoods of Montserrat's population.

Ecosystems provide multiple benefits such as the provision of fresh water, maintaining soil fertility and a variety of food resources.

The Soufriere volcano has been active since 1995 causing extensive damage to biodiversity and ecosystems and has caused social and economic disruption, with the migration of 2/3 of the p