IN THE DECADE before Barbados became independent, it received glowing praise from the National Geographic magazine.

In their article, the magazine referred to Barbados as the "Island Without Weeds" and a "trim little" island.

"Trim little island presumably means that it was neat, tidy, and litter-free," said sustainable development practitioner Dr Colin Hudson at this year's Graham Gooding Lecture.

A lot has happened since then.

Barbados rapidly "developed" to be one of the envies in the Caribbean, affluence increased, and building booms dotted its history as an independent nation.

At that time knowledge and appreciation of the natural environment was not as great as it is today, and so people used and misused their environmental capital much like a wealthy company which splurged in bountiful times. It is only when recession sets in that the wealthy company has to start down-sizing to ensure its survival as a corporate entity.

Today Barbadians are learning about their environment - either electively, or the hard way. They are learning that the environment has no compartments. It is global.

Abuse in one area of the world will cause an effect in another, much like how the global trading system works. Terrorists hit the World Trade Center towers in New York and countries the world over felt the impact in their bank accounts.

Industries riding on the economic boom put billions of tonnes of pollutants into the atmosphere which caused global warming that has affected small, innocent islands.

People with beachfront houses are learning now that climatic changes are throwing huge battering waves against their property. As sea levels start to rise they are forced to retreat inland, or spend exorbitant sums trying to keep the ocean at bay.

Barbadians are therefore now learning about the environment. They are trying to catch up to correct the wrongs of the past, and persuade their fellowmen to do the right thing the first time around when constructing new golf courses and buildings, removing arable land from production, opening new industries, and using the ocean for recreation and economic purposes.

This year, the environmental awareness and knowledge of Barbadians increased several notches, and at the same time there were more efforts to advance environmental protection. This article will look at some key advances.

Since the environment made it onto the world agenda at the Earth Summit in Brazil in 1992, global environmental management has been driven by multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) such as the Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species (CITIES) and the United Nations Framework Convention On Climate Change.

Barbados has signed about eight MEAs covering the atmosphere, the ocean, and biological resources.

However, some countries in the Caribbean recently learnt that they still have to pass local laws to enforce the provisions of the convention, or their economies can lose out big time.

Take Dominica, for example, it is a member of CITIES which protects against the destruction and harvesting of coral reefs, but a local company has been harvesting coral for export. There is little that can be done because there are no local laws and as a result of violation of CITIES, the island has been blacklisted. This means that environmentally conscious tourists could boycott the island.

Jamaica also learnt the hard way that it could not stop the export of the endangered Queen Conch even though it is protected under CITIES. The company sued the Ministry of Agriculture and won as the Court found there were no laws prohibiting the harvesting of the conch.

Barbados has learnt from these lessons and Minister of Physical Development and the Environment Liz Thompson said Government was well on its way to completing new legislation to protect rare and endangered species to bring into effect the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Agro-Biodiversity which would manage the operation of zoos and other animal-related facilities.

In the area of climate change, which scientists say will turn the world topsy turvy, the Barbados-based Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change has made significant inroads, this year, into designing specific policies to help Barbados and other Caribbean states to adapt to the expected impacts.

These include coastal flooding from rising sea levels, reduction of fresh water in coastal wells, increase in tropical diseases, and adverse climate changes.

Last year, Barbadians became sensitised about litter and illegal dumping through a media awareness campaign by the Greening Barbados initiative of The NATION newspaper and a number of other private sector companies.

This year has seen many illegal dumpsites vanishing for good, improved collection services by the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA), a systematic clean-up of bulky waste co-ordinated by the Central Emergency Relief Organisation, and a litter patrol by the SSA.

After making significant gains in the last four years, dengue fever, is on the increase again. In October an unusual 19 inches of rain, which provided water bodies for the Aedes aegypti mosquito to breed, saw an upsurge in suspected dengue cases outstripping all of last year's cases by 20 per cent.

New marine environmental laws which came into force last October were pressed into action in January when a mega yacht damaged a coral reef on the west coast. It was the property of the British billionaire Sir Anthony Bamford of the JCB construction equipment fortune.

The tip-off was by a watersports operator who said he was fed-up with boat anchors continuing to damage coral reefs. It created a storm in Barbados, but the debate was healthy in that it increased awareness about the law and the issues.

There was an out of court settlement in which the captain paid a sum of just under $30 000. The charges were laid under the Fisheries Act which carry a smaller maximum fine of $50 000. Had the authorities chosen to prosecute under the new Coastal Zone Management Act, the cost would have been $300 per square metre for the 400 square metres of reef damaged.

The hotel sector also has been on the move to protect the environment on which they rely for their business.

Cobblers Cove Hotel, Asta Beach Resort, and Southern Palms Beach Club started their quest to become Green Globe certified and join Casuarina Beach Club, Treasure Beach Hotel, Almond Beach Club, Royal Pavilion Hotel, and Glitter Bay Resort.

Coconut Court Hotel was named the outstanding hotel at the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association's (BHTA) 2001 President's Awards for its commitment to the pursuit of excellence - embracing the environment, the community, and the value and development of the human resource asset.

That hotel has worked closely with the Barbados Sea Turtle Project to protect nesting endangered turtles. It has also funded the creation of the Barbados

Marine Trust whose first programme is to create artificial reefs for recreational and economic purposes.

Environmental awareness and action have come a long way with the topic firmly entrenched on the international trading agenda. Barbados is making gains but still has significant distance to travel. It can be covered, however, provided there is increased education of a wider cross-section of the society. Then and only then, will Barbados' environment become as green as it should.

• Terry Ally is the Environment Correspondent at The NATION.