Virgin Islands National Park; Draft- Shoreline Management Plan

The natural resources of Virgin Islands National Park have been recognized as being internationally significant because of their environmental uniqueness and diversity of rare and endangered flora and fauna species. The park was designated a Biosphere Reserve under the Man and the Biosphere Program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1976, and dedicated as such in 1983. The Biosphere Reserve is part of an international network of areas, representative of the world's natural diversity, managed to integrate conservation and development. The Biosphere Reserve provides a framework for relating management directly to people's needs, and for improving cooperation at the local, regional and international levels. Management of the park's natural resources will allow for a model which can then be utilized by other marine areas experiencing similar resources degradation. Virgin Islands National Park was selected as a Biosphere Reserve because it represents the Lesser Antillean biogeographic province.