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AN INVESTIGATION, USING AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY, OF COASTAL ENVIRONMENTAL 
DEGRADATION IN BARBADOS. 
MR. MARK D. GRIFFITH 
University of Aston, Birmingham, U.K. 
and The University of The West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. 
and 
DR. W. GORDON COLLINS 
University of Aston, Birmingham,U.K. 
ABSTRACT 
Barbados, like most countries of the developing world is caught in the dilemma 
of over-utilizing its environment, its coastal zone in particular. In its 
quest for development, there is ample evidence of ecological stress, 
environmental degradation and inadequate control of land utilization. 
One of the problems is the failure to adopt methods and techniques for 
systematically monitoring the environment. These problems are concerned 
with the conflict between the short term interests of the economy and the 
long term interest of the ecology. 
This paper is concerned with the application of time sequential aerial 
photography to provide environmental documentation of conditions and processes 
operating in the coastal zone. To map the type and extent of environmental 
use, and to record changes. 
The results indicate a trend of environmental degradation. It is clear that 
remedial measures are urgently required. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The purpose of this project of which this report is the first stage, is to 
provide environmental documentation of conditions and processes operating in 
the coastal zone of Barbados. This information is needed to guide futher 
development and to assist in the formulation of methods and techniques to 
systematically monitor the environment. The lack of a data base on which to 
formulate a rational physical development plan would result in the failure to 
reconcile the conflicting demands between the short term interest of the 
economy and the long term interest of ecology and preservation. 
Barbados is a small (445 kn2), coral-encircled, non-volcanic island, which 
lies east of the main chain of the Lesser Antillies, with shores washed both 
by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Its geographical position is 
approximately 139N and 59930'W,100 miles east of St. Vincent, its nearest 
neighbour and 300 miles northeast of the South American mainland (Map 1). 
About 85 percent of the surface area of this pear shaped island (23 miles in 
length and 15 miles in width) is Pleistocene coral rock and associated 
sedimentary rocks. The remaining area, consists of older Tertiary sedimentary 
rocks (Hunt, 1973). 
The geology of Barbados is characterized by two physiographic regions; the 
gentle sloping inland terraces which rise from the western coastal region and 
the hilly Scotland Series in the northeast, which are dissected by a series of 
ravines and ridges trending in a north-eastern direction (Map 2). 
The country is naturally endowed with excellent beaches. More than eleven 
miles of these beaches are found on the western coast, and the coral formation 
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