We Love Mauritius Environmental Stewardship : Social Justice

We Love Mauritius posed a number of questions to Xavier Duval, Minister of Tourism and Leisure, about his strategy for the sector. Our purpose was to ascertain its compatibility with the Prime Minister's vision of Maurice Ile Durable. He delegated the Ministry's response to Sunil Kowlessur, Principle Tourism Planner. Here is what he had to say along with our assessments.

There is no such thing as a sustainable building. A building is a part of a community, of a planet. We as a community need to adopt more sustainable ways of living. Only then will our buildings reflect how sustainable we are. However, there are definitely buildings that make a better use of natural resources than others. Building for a sustainable community is about making decisions to fulfil our needs and desires, while optimizing our use of natural resources.

What is happening to our beaches? Some are predicting that within a matter of decades they will all be eroded away. After one storm, the beach at Pointe aux Canonniers had lost an enormous amount of sand, making the predictions seem true. However, within weeks the sand was returning and the beach getting back to normal.

By thinking of our beaches as part of the mainland, we try to prevent them eroding by using many of the same methods. However, if beaches are significantly different, is it possible that we might be doing more harm than good?

In November 2008, Zac Sunderland visited Mauritius half way through his successful bid to be the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the world single-handed. As reported in the Weekend newspaper he told children at the Grand Baie Youth Sailing Club: “I wish to see a Mauritian do better than me”. However, this seems an impossible dream since only a very few lucky Mauritians are taught how to sail dinghies and there is no formal training at all for offshore yachting.

But are there good reasons to try to make Zac's wish a reality? We believe there are, so how can we achieve it?

Green buildings are part of a global response to increasing awareness of the role of human activity in causing global climate change. Buildings account for more than 40% of all global carbon dioxide emissions, one of the main culprits implicated in the phenomenon of global warming. Many observers predict that half of the new buildings over the next three decades will occur in China alone, some 220 billion square feet of new space for residential, commercial and industrial uses. Without a focus on energy-efficient and green buildings, we have no chance for tackling global climate change.

Several issues affect the sustainable development of Mauritius. One is our dependence on fossil fuels for transport and electricity. These sources of energy are finite and hence, at some point in time substitutes will have to be found. A second issue is the disposal of waste. By taking a broader perspective on these two is it possible to come up with more integrated solutions?