The Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) launched a survey on 22 March 2020 aiming to better understand how islands were coping with the COVID-19 crisis.
Island Innovation shared similar questions to its wide island network. The survey has been closed on 01 June 2020 and the goal of this page is to collate the responses we have received in order to share information of island responses to Covid 19. Please click here for a document that summarises all the data collated or check the information below browsing by islands or by the survey questions. Preliminary findings from the survey have been published by SCELG and Island Innovation in a SCELG Policy Brief and a final report is available with key messages, an analysis of the responses to the survey questions and practical policy recommendations on how to move beyond COVID-19 in order to promote a more resilient and sustainable future for islands and their communities.
The page includes information from islands from 52 countries. The information has been kindly shared by people either living on the island or aware of the situation on a specific island.
Pacific Ocean
Cook Islands
Cortes Island, Canada
Fiji
Guam
Hawaii, USA
Okinawa, Japan
Pitcairn Islands
Tasmania, Australia
Tuvalu
Samoa
Vancouver Island, Canada
Indian Ocean
Madagascar
Maldives
Mauritius
Reunion
Seychelles
Atlantic Ocean (Europe)
Aland Islands, Finland
Azores, Portugal
Barra, Scotland
Faroe Islands
Fohr Island, Germany
Fuerteventura, Spain
Greenland
Iceland
Iles du Ponant, France
Ireland (Generally)
Isle of Man
Isle of Wight, UK
Jersey
Jura, Scotland
Laeso, Denmark
Lewis, Scotland
Madeira, Portugal
Öland, Sweden
Orkney Islands, Scotland
Saaremaa, Estonia
Scottish Islands Generally, Scotland
Sherkin Island, Ireland
Shetland Islands, Scotland
South Uist, Scotland
Tenerife, Spain
Tiree, Scotland
Atlantic Ocean (Africa and Americas)
Big Tancook Island, Canada
Falkland Islands
Islands of Maine, USA
Martha's Vineyard, USA
Prince Edward Island, Canada
Sao Tome and Princip
Caribbean Sea
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Bay Islands, Honduras
Bermuda
Cayman Islands
Curacao
Dominica
Grenada
Haiti
Jamaica
Montserrat
Puerto Rico
San Andres, Colombia
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Vincent and the Grenadines
St Maarten
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
US Virgin Islands
Mediterranean
Corsica, France
Croatian Islands Generally, Croatia
Gozo, Malta
Greek Islands Generally, Greece
Ibiza and Formentera, Spain
Lastovo, Croatia
Mallorca, Spain
Malta (Generally)
Sicilian Islands, Italy
Solta, Croatia
Lake islands
Beaver Island, Michigan, USA
Put-in-Bay, Ohio, USA
- What actions are being taken to protect the island community from Covid 19? In particular, how are travel restrictions being put in place and enforced?
- What actions will be taken should people on the island have Covid 19?
- What actions are being taken to ensure that essential goods and services are provided to the island community?
- What actions are being taken to ensure that people working on the islands, not only in the tourism sector, are sustained financially in the short term and in the long term?
- What actions are being taken to ensure the mental well-being of people on the island?
- If you consider it appropriate, feel free to share any data about people who have Covid 19 on your island and of people who, sadly, have passed away because of Covid 19?
- If applicable, how are lockdown measures being relaxed?
- Is there anything else you would like to share?
Preliminary findings from the survey have been published by SCELG and Island Innovation in a SCELG Policy Brief: F Sindico and J Ellsmoor, Coronavirus: A Global Island Perspective, SCELG Policy Brief 14/2020. A final report is available with key messages, an analysis of the responses to the survey questions and practical policy recommendations on how to move beyond COVID-19 in order to promote a more resilient and sustainable future for islands and their communities: Francesco Sindico, Giulia Sajeva, Nicola Sharman, Patricia Berlouis and James Ellsmoor, Islands and COVID-19: A Global Survey, Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance and Island Innovation, 2020
The survey has attracted a lot of media attention and has featured on BBC Orkney [from 12:18] and on CBC (Canadian Public Radio). Francesco has also been invited to contribute to a number of podcasts and events where he presented the work on islands and Covid-19: OTOK Podcast, Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF) Rural Routes Podcast “Rural and Island responses to COVID-19 panel interview” and Scotland Rural College Island webinar series (forthcoming).
Island Innovation has been leading a series of Covid-19 related webinars with over 3,500 registered attendees and coverage in outlets such as the Jamaica Observer:
- Island Responses to COVID-19 – Discussion with representatives from Greenland, the Maldives, Canary Islands and Anguilla.
- The Economic Future of the Caribbean: Life After COVID-19 – Discussion with representatives from Barbados, Aruba, the Cayman Islands, Saint Lucia and Sint Maarten.
- Responding to COVID-19 in Jamaica – Discussion with representatives from various angles of the Jamaican economy: government, finance, private sector & media.
Further webinars and events on islands and Covid-19 have been organised by the UN Local 2030 Islands Hub hosted by Hawai’i Green Growth and Global Island Partnership (GLISPA):
- Island Platform on COVID-19 Response – Sharing, Support, Solutions, discussion with Guam. Grenada, UN Foundation, Global Island Partnership and Hawai’i Green Growth Local2030 Hub [watch the recording here]
- How are islands addressing COVID-19 related disruptions to the tourism economy? What are their ideas on building back better? Discussion with representatives from Galápagos Islands, Hawaiʻi, and Curaçao, and responses from the Philippines and the Cook Islands [watch the recording here]
- Strengthening island food security to address impacts of COVID-19 and achieve long term sustainability, discussion with Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Hawaiʻi, and other islands
The information on this page is the result of the combined efforts of the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) and Island Innovation and is led by Francesco Sindico and James Ellsmoor. Two SCELG research assistants, Nicola Sharman and Patricia Berlouis, both students on the Strathclyde LLM in Global Environmental Law and Governance, have collated the information coming from the islands.