Islandness of Bermuda and Pitcairn Island
Vulnerability, Resilience, Isolation and Contentedness of Bermuda and Pitcairn Island
Introduction
This Storymap aims to discuss the imbalances of Bermuda and the Pitcairn Islands in terms of their vulnerability and marginalisation to global changes, resilience and adaptability to external pressure, and their isolation and remoteness to describe how open and connected they are. Global changes are environmentally unfriendly scenarios affecting the world today and require urgent attention. Both islanders and non-islanders are affected by the impacts of this global change. Small islands like the Pitcairn Islands are at more significant risk due to their smaller sizes and accessibility. Despite this shortcoming, some islands are self-sufficient and sustaining, contributing to their resilience against all forms of pressure. In addition, islands can be geographically, economically, and culturally isolated and remote while simultaneously open and connected to the world around them.
Study Area
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Bermuda archipelago consists of 181 islands (7 main islands) with a total land area of 54 km 2 . The closest land outside the territory is North Carolina, United States, which is approximately 1,035 km to the west-northwest. Bermuda has a sub-tropical climate, with mild winters and warm summers.
Pitcairn Island
Adamstown, the capital, is located on the only inhabited island, the southernmost of the four islands of the archipelago. The average annual temperature on the island is 23.17°C. The rains are frequent in all seasons, so much so that in a typical year, 1,600mm of rainfall and average precipitation exceeds 100mm in all months. The natural hazards peculiar to Pitcairn island are typhoons, especially from November to March. Air travel is not feasible due to its remoteness and challenging terrain, and getting there by boat from Mangareva takes 36 hours.
Marginalized and Vulnerable
Bermuda
Bermuda’s reefs have undoubtedly seen a whole range of modern threats to their health, including sedimentation, infections, bleaching, and overfishing. However, over the past three decades, they have remained generally stable and benefited from proactive management to lessen harmful anthropogenic influences, particularly fishing pressure. Nevertheless, the lagoonal and near-shore reefs seem to be impacted by marine operations and chemical pollution, and they are still vulnerable to risks in the future. Additional possible hazards include sea level rise, making coral reefs and shorelines more susceptible to damage from storms and cyclones due to wave action and sea level rise.
What Would Happen If All The Coral Reefs Died Off?
- If we do nothing to cool the oceans, the planet’s remaining coral could all be wiped out.
- The planet has already lost 50% of its coral in the last 30 years. If the rest go, the consequences would be dire.
Pitcairn Islands
Pitcairn Island is at risk of Potential extinction. The survey conducted by (Solomon and Burnett, 2014) opined that if nothing is done, only three working individuals will remain on Pitcairn Island by 2045, with the rest being very old. Furthermore, the study found that residents who had left the island in recent decades had little interest in returning. Only 33 of the hundred emigrants contacted agreed to participate in the poll, and only three showed a wish to return. In addition, the Pitcairn Island’s population is ageing and shrinking.
A very high-risk of Potential Extinction - Only three people will be left on the island by 2050 if nothing is done.
Resilient and Adaptable
Bermuda
In 1960, the Bermuda Government launched Bermuda’s Cahow Recovery Program. The project is a long-term management, research, and recovery program to reduce threats to the National Bird of Bermuda, the Cahow, or Bermuda petrel (Pterodroma cahow).
The Following Bird Species have gone into extinction except, the Bermuda Petrel (as seen on the Right Hand Side):
Bermuda Flicker
Bermuda Towhee
Bermuda Saw-whet Owl
Bermuda Night-heron
Bermuda Hawk
Pitcairn Island
There have been severe threats to Pitcairn island fish -the albacore tuna, bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna. The Pitcairn Islands Marine Protected Area is a unique area of scientific interest and a globally important site of marine biodiversity. Comprehensive satellite surveillance has been undertaken since January 2016 to understand better the threat of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing on Pitcairn Island. The Blue Belt Programme was initiated in collaboration with the British Government and has developed a compliance risk profile regularly updated based on new intelligence (United Kingdom Government, 2021)
Isolated and Remote
Bermuda
At the close of 2003, the World Bank positioned Bermuda behind only Luxemburg and the United States as the third richest country.
Pitcairn Island
The success of MIRAB has enabled a gradual shift from subsistence to subsidies, especially in the outer islands and politically dependent ones like Pitcairn. Given these restrictions, it is understandable that many small islands, like Pitcairn, have chosen tourism as their main economic driver. Despite their remoteness, they are still considered exciting tourist destinations.
- Pitcairn remains free of COVID-19, in large part due to its isolation in the Pacific Ocean (Matthew et al., 2021) .
Open and Connected
...Air and Water connects the world
Bermuda and Pitcairn Islands are opened and connected to the world
Today’s islands often capitalize on their apparent remoteness in time and space to become popular destinations (Gillis, 2007).
With the presence of an airport, you can fly to and from six interesting destinations (New York City, Charlotte, Miami, Atlanta, Toronto and London) by air.
The Bermuda Triangle connects Bermuda with Miami and Puerto Rico.
Bermuda
- Bermuda registered fifty-one thousand inbound tourist arrivals in 2020, of which nine thousand corresponded to cruise passengers
Beautiful Destinations in Bermuda
Pitcairn Island
- Residents of Pitcairn claim that they are not so isolated since technological advances, such as the phone and internet, reached their island in 2006.
- Despite its remoteness, the total number of visitors on Pitcairn Island from 2009 to 2012 was 870.
Breath-taking Pitcairn Natural Views.
Conclusion
Non-islanders may see these islands as remote in closed systems, surrounded by water. On the contrary, islanders perceive it to be central, open and connected as long as they perform their daily activities without depending on external assistance. The Islandsness of Bermuda and Pitcairn Islands is, however, subjective. Therefore, it is essential to note that positionality and context are important factors when discussing islands.
