Senator urges cultural awakening on marine heritage

ndependent Senator Crystal Drakes has urged Barbados to reassess its strategies for marine preservation, emphasising the critical yet often neglected cultural dimensions tied to the sea.

As the Senate debated the Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Bill, she argued that a cultural shift is essential for sustainability and urged the government to recognise the broader implications of coastal developments on communities.

The proposed legislation is part of an effort to balance cultural preservation, environmental protection, and economic development in managing the nation’s marine resources.

“Culture is an afterthought,” Senator Drakes said. “What we’re trying to change is not technology, not the economic system, or even how we deal with environmental issues. What has to change is culture, this value system that people have with the environment. And that is one of the hardest things to do in the current capitalist society.”

She expressed concern that the general public lacks awareness of the cultural and historical significance of the marine environment, which, according to her, contributes to its undervaluation.

She said: “These unseen things are also somewhat aloof to the average Barbadian because they don’t know, they don’t see, they don’t interact with it. And because we don’t interact with it, there’s a tendency sometimes for it to go under the radar, and we don’t value it as we should.”

The senator also highlighted academic research supporting the link between marine environments and cultural identity, referencing a thesis by Barbadian researcher Klish Gibbons titled The Ocean and Our Culture: Characterisation of the Cultural Benefits Derived from the Marine and the Natural Environment. Noting its findings, she said: “Identity in each case study… is the essential cultural benefit that is enabled, reinforced, or altered based on the practices that people engage in in those areas.”

She questioned how the bill aligns with the Physical Development Plan and whether it sufficiently protects communities like Six Mens in St Peter, where significant hotel developments are underway.

“How does this give life and breath to their rights as cultural practitioners, beholders of the untold stories, that intangible heritage of the Six Men community in light of the development that is currently ongoing?” she questioned.

Drakes extended her concerns to Jones River, where she suggested that strong community connections appear to be at odds with development plans: “What weight do we give to preserving and conserving the values of communities, and what it intrinsically means to be Barbadian, as we move forward in making decisions about our coastal and marine environment?”

Also among her concerns was the potential impact of the bill’s permit requirements on local researchers and students conducting small-scale studies in coastal communities. She warned that such provisions could inadvertently stifle valuable research.

She also raised issues with the governance framework outlined in the bill, noting the lack of clarity on how the proposed decision impact and benefit-sharing committee will function, observing that it “needs to be addressed, fine-tuned, and articulated by the government.” The senator stressed the importance of involving communities in decision-making, particularly those with indigenous and local knowledge of the marine environment.

“Those communities are the ones with the knowledge, the indigenous knowledge, the local knowledge. They are the ones who will deeply understand how any development that moves forward will impact the culture in that space,” she said.

Despite these criticisms, Senator Drakes praised the legislation as a step in the right direction: “I commend Barbados for bringing this bill to the chamber because it sends a signal that in the Caribbean, we are prepared to be the thought leaders in this area of maritime heritage.

“And it really does start to bring to the fore how we deal with the tension of preserving community heritage, dealing with and preserving ecological integrity, along with still achieving economic development.” (SM)