Islandscapes: Tourism, COVID-19, Climate Change and Challenges to Natural Landscapes. A Caribbean Perspective and View from Barbados

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter will examine the pressures on Caribbean islands in the post-COVID-19 world, considering how the demands of tourism and threats of climate change are forcing governments and non-governmental organisations to devise creative and sustainable solutions to the management of fast-disappearing natural landscapes. This is imperative as these small island economies, traditionally geared towards tourism as a key economic activity, seek to rebuild in the wake of almost two years of global COVID-19 lockdown. Furthermore, it is becoming clear that increased hurricane and tropical storm activity, driven by climate change, is resulting in more frequent and destructive weather episodes. The fragile ecosystems of Caribbean landscapes and seascapes are at risk from extreme weather, and also linked to extensive tourism footfall and associated infrastructural development, from human driven factors. Using a series of case studies drawn from Barbados, we examine how an approach to sustainable natural heritage tourism can be framed in the post-COVID-19 and climate changing world.