MY POSTBOX: MONTSERRAT

Saturday 31 October 2015

MONTSERRAT

Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory (BOT) in the Caribbean. The island is in the Leeward Islands, which is part of the chain known as the Lesser Antilles, in the West Indies. Montserrat measures approximately 16 km (10 mi) in length and 11 km (7 mi) in width, with approximately 40 km (25 mi) of coastline. Montserrat is nicknamed "The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean" both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants. The island of Montserrat is located approximately 25 miles (39 km) south-west of Antigua, 13m (22 km) south-east of Redonda (a small island owned by Antigua and Barbuda), and 35m (56 km) north-west of the French overseas region of Guadeloupe. Beyond Redonda lies Nevis (part of St Kitts and Nevis), about 30m (49 km) to the north-west. It comprises 104 km² (40 sq mi) and is gradually increasing owing to the buildup of volcanic deposits on the south-east coast. The island is 16 km (9.9 mi) long and 11 km (6.8 mi) wide and consists of a mountainous interior surrounded by a flatter littoral region, with rock cliffs rising 15 to 30 m (49 to 98 ft) above the sea and a number of smooth bottomed sandy beaches scattered among coves on the western (Caribbean Sea) side of the island. The major mountains are (from north to south) Silver Hill, Katy Hill in the Centre Hills range, the Soufrière Hills and the South Soufrière Hills. The Soufrière Hills volcano is the island's highest point; its pre-1995 height was 915m, however it has now grown due post-eruption due to the creation of a lava dome, with its current height being estimated at 1,050m.

On 18 July 1995, the previously dormant Soufrière Hills volcano, in the southern part of the island, became active. Eruptions destroyed Montserrat's Georgian era capital city of Plymouth. Between 1995 and 2000, two-thirds of the island's population was forced to flee, primarily to the United Kingdom, leaving fewer than 1,200 people on the island in 1997 (rising to nearly 5,000 by 2016). The volcanic activity continues, mostly affecting the vicinity of Plymouth, including its docking facilities, and the eastern side of the island around the former W. H. Bramble Airport, the remnants of which were buried by flows from volcanic activity on 11 February 2010.

An exclusion zone, encompassing the southern half of the island to as far north as parts of the Belham Valley, was imposed because of the size of the existing volcanic dome and the resulting potential for pyroclastic activity. Visitors are generally not permitted entry into the exclusion zone, but a view of the destruction of Plymouth can be seen from the top of Garibaldi Hill in Isles Bay. Relatively quiet since early 2010, the volcano continues to be closely monitored by the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. A new town and port are being developed at Little Bay, which is on the northwest coast of the island. While this construction proceeds, the centre of government and businesses is at Brades.

Montserrat, like many isolated islands, is home to rare, endemic plant and animal species. Work undertaken by the Montserrat National Trust in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has centred on the conservation of pribby (Rondeletia buxifolia) in the Centre Hills region. Until 2006, this species was known only from one book about the vegetation of Montserrat. In 2006, conservationists also rescued several plants of the endangered Montserrat orchid (Epidendrum montserratense) from dead trees on the island and installed them in the security of the island's botanic garden. Montserrat is also home to the critically endangered giant ditch frog (Leptodactylus fallax), known locally as the mountain chicken, found only in Montserrat and Dominica. The national bird is the endemic Montserrat oriole (Icterus oberi). The IUCN Red List classifies it as Vulnerable, having previously listed it as Critically Endangered. The Montserrat galliwasp (Diploglossus montisserrati), a type of lizard, is endemic to Montserrat and is listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered. The number of known beetle species is 718 species from 63 families. It is estimated that 120 invertebrates are endemic to Montserrat.

Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory in the Leeward Islands. The first Montserrat stamps in 1876 were red 1d. and green 6d. stamps of Antigua overprinted MONTSERRAT. The first definitives were issued in 1880. Montserrat used stamps of the Leeward Islands between 1890 and 1903. In 1903, a new set of definitives depicting the coat of arms of Montserrat was issued. Stamps of the Leeward Islands were used concurrently with those of Montserrat until 1956.