FOUNDED: April 9,
1992, Great Guana Cay, Abaco, The
Bahamas.
Chartered: Maryland USA (1992)
Registered: U.S. Virgin Islands Non-Profit (2002)
Governance: 2012 Board of
Directors
Donations: Tax deductible as laws allow.
Payments: Make donations and
payments with credit cards: just
click here.
Focus areas: Education and
Technical Assistance
Education:
As an active participant in the United Nations Global Youth Environmental Forum
in 1992 (UN, New York City, New York), 1993 (Boulder, Colorado), 1994
(Washington, D.C.) and 1995 (San Francisco, California), special emphasis is on
those activities which are developed for and/or by young people to enhance
interest in education through environmental projects.
In 1994,
Clean Islands International produced a two hour video, entitled “Environmental Lessons for Island
Communities”
for distribution to 100 schools in the US Virgin Islands under USEPA funding. Four
half hour lessons explore many of the interrelated environmental issues facing
island communities. Students and educators from the US Virgin Islands are
featured as they teach each other about their islands' fragile ecosystems and
how to respect and preserve them. With additional support from RCCL's Ocean
Fund in 1998, 1,000 copies of the video and a workbook were distributed to
schools throughout the Caribbean.
In 1995,
Clean Islands was recognized by Friends of the United Nations, with a "We The Peoples, 50
Communities Award" for our involvement in the United Nations
Environment Programme Global Youth Forum and the
Clean Islands international
sister school project which featured schools from Abaco, The Bahamas; New
Brunswick, Canada; and Maryland USA.
In
November 1997, Clean Islands International was selected by the University of
the Virgin Islands to operate VIERS: The Virgin
Islands Environmental Resource Station , located on St. John U.S. Virgin
Islands. This remote field station provides unique learning opportunities for
students and researchers.
Clean
Islands International continued its efforts initiated with the United Nations
to provide environmental and education to Caribbean Youth through programs such
as the Wider Caribbean Environmental
Youth Program which were offered at VIERS (1999 to 2008) and summer science
and eco-camps for U.S. Virgin Islands students. Select here
to go to VIERS webpage.
Technical
Assistance:
In the past 19 years, Clean Islands International has offered sixteen
conferences and numerous seminars and workshops with the generous support of
many other organizations. Our first conference, the Island Waste
Management Conference was held in Nassau, January 1994. The
conference theme was "Positive Solutions for Island Issues" and
included the Marine Debris Workshop. Our next conference was the Clean Marinas and Commercial Recycling
Symposium which was co-sponsored with Monroe County, Florida Department of Public
Works and was held in Key West, Florida, June 1995.
Our second
Caribbean regional conference was held after a season of over 20 named
hurricanes. The Caribbean Waste Management
Conference
was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 1995. The
theme of this conference was "Pollution Vulnerability in Island
States" and ReCaribe: The Wider Caribbean Solid Waste and Recycling Alliance
was established by resolution of the delegates.
Clean
Islands presented the ReCaribe: Wider Caribbean Solid Waste
Management Conference from 1997 to 2007. This annual conference
was held in Trinidad (May 1997), Florida Keys (May 1998), Curacao (May 1999),
Martinique (May 2000), St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (May 2001), Bayahibe, Dominican Republic (May 2002), Tobago (May 2003),
St. Vincent (April 2004), Curacao (May 2005), Antigua (June 2006), and St.
John, U.S. Virgin Islands (November 2007).
With
continued partnership with the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI),
ReCaribe 2008: 14th
Caribbean Waste Management Conference was held in Grenada, June 2008 in
conjunction with CEHI’s 4th Caribbean
Environmental Forum and Exhibition.
Our most
recent conference: ReCaribe 2010: 15th Caribbean Waste Management
Conference
was held in Jamaica, June 2010 in conjunction with CEHI’s 5th Caribbean Environmental Forum and Exhibition.
Clean
Islands has also actively participated in many other forums in the past 19
years, including but not limited to:
Clean
Islands was an Official NGO at the UN GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON
THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPINGSTATES which met in
Bridgetown, Barbados, from April 25 to May 6, 1994.
Clean
Islands International actively participated in the Third International Conference on Marine Debris, held in Miami, May
1994.
Clean Islands International actively participated in the First Caribbean Environmental Forum, held in conjunction with the
11th CWWA Conference in St. Lucia, October 2002 and the Second Caribbean Environmental Forum, held in Trinidad in June
2004.