San Andres, Island

Colombias only oceanic and West Indies Department. These islands with a total land area of 57 square kilometers and a population of more than 83,000 are an island microcosm. The landscape includes farmland, tourist centres, isolated traditional settlements in Old Providence and densely populated sectors in San Andres. Old Providence and Santa Catalina were first settled by English puritans from 1630 to 1641 (Kupperman, 1993). There is no known report about permanent settlement of the island of San Andres. The imposed continental development model did not consider insularity and the close relationship between native islanders and their marine environment. The impacts of plans and projects designed and carried out by the centralized government have resulted in losses for the islands natural and socio-cultural systems. The most isolated and smaller islands of Old Providence and Santa Catalina have also undergone socio-cultural changes, however cultural homogeneity has been very useful to reduce its negative impacts. Native islanders are aware that they share issues with the people from other islands around the world; similar trends include overexploitation of natural resources, habitat degradation, planning development in the absence of public involvement, poverty and social exclusion. During the visioning process, the people on Old Providence and Santa Catalina chose ecotourism as their central platform of tourism development and as an essential component for the implementation of the SEAFLOWER Biosphere Reserve. Their aim is to maintain control of their present and future and be the leaders of their own development process. On the other hand, native islanders on San Andres Island currently an ethnic minority on their own territory dream about recovering their insularity and identity and sufficient autonomy to own and define their future