Over the past few decades, the importance of Environmental Statistics has been growing rapidly. A natural result of this has been the demand for and use of environmental indicators that have become especially urgent as humankind grapples with varying methods to protect and save the environment. Accurate, timely and internationally comparable Environmental Statistics are essential in guiding policy interventions to sustainably salvage our rapidly depleting forests and ensure the sustainability of our marine and other natural resources. The changing climate due largely to irresponsible human behavior is wreaking havoc especially on the poorer small island developing states. The need for current environmental data is accentuated in times of natural disasters such as hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes and other natural disasters.
The importance attached to Environmental Statistics is reflected in the international guidelines which recommend the collection, compilation, dissemination, and analysis of this sector of statistics, with equal urgency as that given to statistics and indicators in the Social, Economic and Demographic sectors.
Urgently growing concerns about the impact of climate change, which threatens the very existence of human life on this planet have led our authorities to formulate and document at least one major goal that is directly related to the environment, as well as several indicators spread across the seventeen (17) Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by all countries by 2030. Evidence of achievement will crucially depend on the availability of key Environmental Statistics and Indicators.
This current issue of the Environmental Compendium for Montserrat is the first of its kind and represents the efforts of the Statistics Department of Montserrat (SDM), working in close collaboration with its various partners, to address the need for Environmental Statistics and indicators. These data will guide key policies in this sector. Statistics and indicators of every type can only be efficiently and effectively generated through close collaboration with various national stakeholders. More importantly the generation of Environmental Statistics is even more dependent on an even closer collaboration among all of the key stakeholders. The SDM is very appreciative and thankful to our various partners whose contributions were indispensable to
the preparation of this publication and whose collaboration we will continue to rely on as we continue to develop these much needed data. The SDM intends to prepare and publish an Environmental Compendium at least every five (5) years or earlier.
The publication is available at the following link: https://statistics.gov.ms/subjects/environment-multi-domain-statistics/environment/
