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ABSTRACTS        Volume 3 Number 1 (March 1991)

The significance of the geography of The Bahamas in reconstructing Columbus's route in 1492

Neil E. Sealey

Social Sciences Division, College of The Bahamas, Nassau, The Bahamas

Geographical features and processes pertinent to the interpretation of Columbus's landfall in The Bahamas have frequently been described from secondary sources and without fieldwork. Historical instances are quoted. The recent claims for Samana Cay exemplify this. The geographical features described in the Diario are summarized, and those for the landfall island of Guanahani are examined in detail. Particular attention is paid to the description of central lake, the presence of fresh water, the size and depth of a reef-bound harbour, and the nature of peninsula bounding part of the harbour. Field observations on San Salvador and Samana Cay, backed by geographical and geological analysis, show that on the basis of the geographical description of the landfall island, the National Geographic's claim on Samana Cay is unfounded. The case for San Salvador is supported by the geographical evidence.

Key Words      HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY           COLUMBUS            BAHAMAS

Kitchen gardens in the Caribbean, past and present: their role in small-farm development

John S. Brierley

Department of Geography, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg R3T 2N2, Canada

lthough minuscule in size, Caribbean kitchen gardens are a cornucopia of information with regard to understanding the traditional practices and the evolution of the region's small-scale agriculture. This paper first reviews the pre-and post-emancipation situation of these plots of land, and then on the basis of fieldwork in Grenada, shows that kitchen gardens serve both as a training ground and possible nucleus for small-farmed development. Thus, they have a social and economic significance out of all proportion to their size, one worthy of further analysis and investigation.

Key Words     AGRICULTURAL GEOGRAPHY           KITCHEN GARDENS               CARIBBEAN

Determining the significance of landslide activity: an example from the Eastern Caribbean

Jerome V. DeGraff

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Sierra National Forest, California, USA

Landslides inflict losses which are a burden to the people and economies of island nations in the Eastern Caribbean. Landslides are a common natural hazard causing loss of life and property in these countries. These losses drain resources from more productive economic activities. Often, the significance of landslide impacts is assumed in decision-making which generally results in an under representation of losses. The nature of landslide activity, its relationship to other natural hazards and its effect within an agrarian environment contributes to under representation of actual losses. The effort required to determine the significance of landslide impacts improves landslide risk reduction. Knowing significance, as well as the degree of hazard present and the economic elements at risk, enables a more effective combination of passive and active mitigation measures to be chosen. It also ensures these measures are applied to the more critical locations.

Key Words    GEOMORPHOLOGY          NATURAL HAZARDS            LANDSLIDES             CARIBBEAN

Statehood, the commons, and the landscape in Barbuda

Riva Berleant-Schiller

Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut,Torrington, Connecticut 06790, USA

Barbuda became part of the independent state of Antigua and Barbuda in 1981. This paper summarizes the Barbudan system of extensive land use and customary tenure, describes some significant landscape changes since 1977, and relates these changes to political independence and a new perception of the land as marketable commodity rather than cherished commons.

Key Words     CULTURAL ECOLOGY          POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY           LAND TENURE           BARBUDA

The Turks and Caicos Islands: beyond the quest for Independence

John Connell

Department of Geography, University of Sydney, Australia 2006

After separation from Jamaica in 1962, the Turks and Caicos Islands increasingly sought an independent identity which, briefly in the 1970s, expressed itself as a desire for independence. Today, the quest for independence has been indefinitely postponed. The Turks and Caicos Islands made a transition from a very impoverished economy with limited natural resources to a more successful and increasingly sophisticated economy specializing in tourism and offshore finance. External orientation of the economy is perceived to be dependent on domestic political stability.

Key Words     POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY             COLONIES                TURKS AND CAICOS

ABSTRACTS         Volume 3 Number 2 (September 1991)

Evolution of the Hindu Temple in Trinidad

Carolyn V. Prorok

Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, Slippery Rock University, Pennsylvania 16057, USA

A distinctive elemental form of Trinidad's cultural landscape is the Hindu temple. Hindu temples evolved from traditional temple forms, like those found in northern India in the late nineteenth century, to a Trinidadian form which emerged shortly after World War II. Temples from each stage in the evolutionary process are found in Trinidad's landscape today, thereby reflecting the continuum of conservative to reformist sentiments within the Hindu community. The manifest function of Trinidad's temples shifted from god-centred to community-centred. The evolutionary process of changing form and function of the Hindu temple symbolizes the dialectic of human experience. Temples represent abodes of deities and humans, conflict and unity, identity and identity crisis, and being Indian and being Trinidadian. The historical geography of temple evolution tells the story of the Hindu's common experience in Trinidad and it speaks to Hindus of a rich heritage and an emerging Hindu community different than that of its ancestors.

Key Words   GEOGRAPHY OF RELIGION           HINDU TEMPLE               TRINIDAD

Throughflow in fine-textured soils in the coastal lowlands of southern Belize

I.C. Baillie, J.P. Carr, G.A. Gibson & A.C.S. Wright

Department of Geography, Polytechnic of North London, United Kingdom

Throughflow is the lateral movement of water through subsoils, often caused by decreases in soil permeability with depth. It was measured by interception at various depths in eight profiles in representative soils in the coastal plain of southern Belize. Throughflow hydrographs tended to peak within a few hours of heavy rainfalls and to recede rapidily. Throughflow was observed throughout the full depth of the subsoil, and was not concentrated above the clay-enriched horizon. At cut-off drain at 25cm depth substantially diminished throughflow in one pit, and a drain at 60cm caused its virtual cessation in another. Throughflow enables some water to be retained for use by vegetation and decreases erosion risks associated with overland flow. The importance of this pathway also has pedological implications, as the lateral diversion of vertical percolation decreases the amount of water for leaching and weathering of the lower horizons

Key Words     SOILS GEOGRAPHY           THROUGHFLOW                  BELIZE

An analysis of housing in Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines

Robert B. Potter

Department of Geography, Royal Holloway & Bedford New College, University of London, United Kingdom

A two-year project involves the collection and analysis of primary and secondary data relating to the housing systems of Grenada, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. This paper presents some of the initial findings which derive from a statistical analysis of the diagnostic housing variables included in the 1980/81 Census of the Commonwealth Caribbean. Housing conditions in the three Eastern Caribbean territories are compared, and composite indices of housing disamenity derived. The association of poor housing conditions with the rural zones is emphasized and the neglect of formal housing policies in these territories is highlighted.

Key Words     URBAN GEOGRAPHY            GRENADA           ST LUCIA            ST VINCENT

Curacao: restructuring in the 1980s and 1990s

Eddy H. Baetens

Radulphus College, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles

The article describes the early development of oil refining by the Royal Dutch Shell Company in the 1920s, then looks at the four pillars of development in the 1980s: oil refining; the offshore sector; tourism; and ship repair. The prospects for these sectors in the 1990s are considered.

Key Words      INDUSTRIAL GEOGRAPHY            CURACAO

ABSTRACTS              Volume 3 Number 3 (March 1992)

Intensified dependence on a maturing mining sector: the Jamaica bauxite levy

R. M. Auty

Department of Geography, University of Lancaster, Lancaster LA1 4YB, United Kingdom

The bauxite levy intensified Jamaica's dependence on a maturing mining sector. The levy transformed Jamaica into a swing producer because it overestimated mining sector rent and accelerated the country's long-term loss of alumina market share. The levy revenues were used to underpin a populist boom that ended in a sharp economic contraction in the mid-1970s. Recovery was slow since the orthodox macro policies adopted were not sufficiently buffered against mineral revenue swings - as the damage caused by the large negative shock of the early 1980s underlined. Although economic reform intensified through the 1980s and included the repeal of the levy in 1988, structural weakness persisted. Jamaica's macro policy needed complementary micro measures which included a mineral stabilization fund and incentives for competitive manufacturing.

Key Words     INDUSTRIAL GEOGRAPHY           BAUXITE             JAMAICA

Adaptation to agricultural change among Garifuna women in Hopkins, Belize

Elaine Bliss

Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201, USA

For generations, Black Carib (Garifuna) women have maintained a stronger farming tradition than men in areas of the Caribbean and Central America. Subsistence farm plots provide food security with cassava and other ground food being the dietary staples. Traditionally men have supplied the main protein source, fish. In Hopkins, Belize, male migratory labour and more recently the introduction of male-dominated, export-oriented citrus economy are altering women's traditional farming practices. Although some employment opportunities have existed for women outside of the village and some improvements have been made, women continue to depend on subsistence plots to ensure food for their families. The subsistence economy of Hopkins is in a state of transition and women's traditional patterns are being modified. Some implications of this transition for women in Hopkins are discussed.

Key Words        GENDER STUDIES            GARIFUNA              BELIZE

Pesticides, people, and the environment in St. Vincent

Lawrence S. Grossman

Department of Geography, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg,Virginia 24061,USA

Pesticide use has grown dramatically in St. Vincent since the 1950s. Farmers use most pesticides on bananas produced for export, but they are also applying them increasingly on other crops. Problems associated with the misuse of pesticides in St. Vincent are less severe than those reported for many other Third World countries. Nevertheless, problems in handling, storage, and application of pesticides clearly exist. Understanding problems at the local level requires analysis of how agrochemical use interacts with a wide range of human and environmental variables.

Key Words      AGRICULTURAL GEOGRAPHY             PESTICIDES              ST VINCENT

The landscapes of Cayuna: Jamaica through the senses of John Hearne

Brian J. Hudson

School of Planning and Landscape Architecture, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia 4001

Jamaican novelist, John Hearne, studied geography at school and university, and his writings reflect his fascination with place and landscape. Hearne's Cayuna novels are of particular interest to Caribbean geographers because of their portrayal of Jamaican society and landscape at an important period in that country's national development - the two decades before political independence. Hearne is notable for the way in which he draws on all human senses to evoke the varied landscapes, including townscapes, of the island, and thus provides the reader with literary examples of 'smellscape' and 'soundscape' which have recently become areas of geographical inquiry.

Key Words      GEOGRAPHY AND LITERATURE             LANDSCAPE                    JAMAICA

Industrial Free Zones in the Dominican Republic

Milagros Nanita-Kennett

Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

This articles describes the background to the development of industrial Free Zones in the Dominican Republic which are seen as sources of employment and export earnings. A case study of the Free Zone of Santiago is presented and a range of problems identified.

Key Words      INDUSTRIAL GEOGRAPHY              FREE ZONES                    DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

ABSTRACTS         Volume 3 Number 4 (September 1992)

Future Caribbean donor landscapes: a geographic interpretation of contemporary trends

Gene C. Wilken

Regional Environmental Advisor Caribbean, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Barbados

Economic and political changes are reshaping the international donor landscape in the Caribbean. The Third World itself is being redefined as global economic and political events redirect donor alignments. Economic hard times and domestic needs make foreign aid less attractive to rich nations. Funding from non-governmental organizations and the private sector will increasingly influence the type and size of activities. Projects will be multi-sectoral, and institutional rather than infrastructural. Donors will restate goals and types of programmes, offer new sources of funding through multilateral agencies and NGO co-financing, and share environmental responsibilities with NGOs and local organizations. Expect more attention to sustainable production rather than conservation for conservation's sake; environmental policies, and environmental analyses of other policies including externally-imposed policies; legislation, regulation and enforcement and 'harmonizing' on regional bases; integration of environmental elements into sectoral and multi-sectoral projects; environmental assessment guidelines for local or community organizations; private sector participation in resource conservation, and environmentally sustainable production. All of these will take place in a Caribbean region defined by environmental characteristics and trade agreements rather than cultural and political distinctions. Some of geography's most enduring traditions offer contexts for analyses.

Key Words     POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY         DONOR AGENCIES             CARIBBEAN

Spatio-temporal trends in root crop production and marketing in Jamaica

Paulette Meikle

Department of Geography, University of the West Indies, Mona campus, Jamaica

Root crop production in Jamaica and indeed the rest of the Caribbean is the domain of the small-scale farming sector. Not only is this sector a major source of employment, but in recent years its potential as a foreign exchange earner has been increasingly realized. This paper analyses the spatial and temporal trends in root crop production and marketing in Jamaica over the part 10-15 years in response to initiatives to improve national food self-sufficiency, and to generate foreign exchange through export. A study of 163 farmers in two rural communities shows contrasting trends in overall production orientation. These contrasts are indications not only of environmental variations which influence decision-making at the micro-scale, but also variations in infrastructural provision.

Key Words     AGRICULTURAL GEOGRAPHY          SMALL-SCALE FARMING                 JAMAICA

A preliminary assessment of the economic cost of land degradation: the Hermitage catchment, Jamaica

Learie A. Miller

Natural Resources Conservation Authority, Kingston, Jamaica

As the world becomes more focussed on environmental issues, an emerging difficulty has been the inability of countries to effectively quantify in monetary terms the real cost of resource depletion. An attempt is made to calculate via remedial measures, the cost of degradation in the Hermitage Catchment Area. The reservoir, known as Hermitage Dam, is a major source of water supply to the Kingston Metropolitan Area. The assessment of costs related to reafforestation and dredging of the reservoir formed the basis of the evaluation. Similar approaches in the future may help to quantify in monetary terms the economic cost of resource depletion.

Key Words      PLANNING              WATERSHED MANAGEMENT                JAMAICA

The effects of forest clearance on soil conservation: preliminary findings from the Yallahs Valley, Jamaica Blue Mountains

M. A. McDonald, J. R. Healey Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, University of Wales, Bangor, United Kingdom

and P. V. Devi Prasad Department of Botany, University of the West Indies, Mona campus, Jamaica

Contemporary land-use issues in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica are those of preventing deforestation and buffer-zone management in the area of the new National Park and ensuring sustainable alternatives in areas originally cleared of the natural forest. These are amongst the objectives of a study into the catchment protection role of the Blue Mountains forest being carried out by scientists from the University of Wales, Bangor, the University of the West Indies, the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Bangor Research Unit. The principal objective of the study is to investigate the consequences of forest clearance on soil conservation, in the context of soil fertility as well as soil erosion. The use of a potential agroforestry system - hedgerow intercropping - for soil conservation is also being investigated. The rationale for the study is presented, as well as preliminary findings from the study.

Key Words    GEOMORPHOLOGY             BIOGEOGRAPHY                AGROFORESTRY              JAMAICA

The small island as a colony

Stephen A. Royle

School of Geosciences, Queen's University of Belfast, United Kingdom

In the period since the Second World War, the vast majority of the world's colonies have progressed to independence. Only a few remain, principally small islands. This paper outlines the benefits and drawbacks, for the territories still involved, of remaining in a colonial relationship, and concludes with an illustrative example of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Key Words    POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY              COLONIES               TURKS AND CAICOS

The UWI scholarship examination in geography: an analysis of the 1992 results

David Barker

Department of Geography, University of the West Indies, Mona campus, Jamaica

The paper analyses statistics relating to the 1992 UWI scholarship examination in geography. The general performance of candidates is commented upon, and comparisons made between the results from different territories

Key Words      GEOGRAPHY AND EDUCATION                 JAMAICA