Above: the British Virgin Islands

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The British Virgin Islands has officially joined the Global Partnership for Oceans.

The territory joined the global organization at a ceremony at the United States Department of the Interior in Washington, DC late last month.

The Global Partnership for Oceans has more than 140 governments, international organizations and civil society groups, according to its Web site.

It aims to “tackle documented problems of overfishing, pollution, and habitat loss.”

“We are pleased that the British Virgin Islands has decided to join the Global Partnership for Oceans,” said Dr Valerie Hickey, interim secretariat head and environmental scientist at the World Bank, who represented the organization at the ceremony. “We believe the BVI will be an invaluable partner as we take steps toward ocean sustainability.”

The organization was founded in 2012, an initiative led by the World Bank.

“The BVI is happy to join the global effort to sustainably management of the world’s oceans, which are a vital resource to the BVI and on which our livelihood and the livelihood of so many others around the world depend,” said BVI Deputy Premier and Minister for Natural Resources Dr Kedrick Pickering. “At home we are already taking steps in a number of areas to ensure we are doing our part.”