A technical team from the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture, together with officials of the Marine Research Division of the Korea Marine Institute, conducted site visits to coastal areas in St Andrew on Wednesday. The site visits are part of the preliminary work for research on the south and south-east coasts of Grenada. The areas visited were Telescope, Grenville, Soubise and Marquis. Senior Environmental Officer in the Ministry of Environment, Paul Phillip, spearheaded the site visits. Mr Phillip said they looked at the occurrence of erosion taking place in these areas overtime, sand deposits and the vulnerability of the people living along the coasts. Most of the erosion taking place in these areas especially in Telescope, he said, has occurred over a 20 to 30 year period. For many years Telescope was the designated site for sand removal until sand-mining was banned in 2008. Because of the sand removal there has been significant erosion and saltwater intrusion. “Where land once used to be is now covered by the sea,” Mr Phillip said. The Senior Environmental Officer added that the team studied the movement of the currents and sediments, which are important indicators to the researchers in finding a solution to some of the problems along the coasts. Korean Marine Specialist, Ahn Yong Sung, said right now the focus of the team is collecting data to assist them with the research. Data has been collected from southern areas such as Point Saline and Petite Bacaye, with visits also planned for wetland and mangrove areas along the designated areas. A final draft document will be presented to the Ministry in the next few months. The draft will aid in the development of a national policy for the Integrated Management of the Coastal and Marine Zones of Grenada to promote sustainable development. The Ministry of Environment, Foreign Trade and Export Development is implementing the project. It forms part of its resource mobilization drive to implement environmental projects over the next five years. The budgeted cost of the project is US$500,000 and is expected to be completed by year-end.