Mr. James Peters, after spending several months in the Virgin Islands region in 1917, returned with rather unfortunate news of the bank. He reported the fauna was, sadly, “depleted and fast disappearing” . Schwartz and Henderson in 1975 were of the hope that the future survival of the West Indian Herpetofauna was brighter than it indicated at the time . Powell & Henderson highlighted the plight of the West Indian herpetofauna in 2008 . Daudin & De Silva (2011) remarked, “The general situation is so desperate that even the most deliberate conservation efforts will probably amount to salvage operations” .
“If we continue down that path”, has become, “Because we continued down that path.” A decade later it appears we are reaching the point of no return. The billions of dollars flooding into the Caribbean for myriad purposes are paving it end-to-end. Surely not, you say? Well, let’s take a trip down memory deforestation lane, shall we? Continue reading Picking Winners & Losers: Who Decides?
