Actions

A list of Conservation Actions have been developed to best address the threats to the VI and Regional SGCN. Through a prioritization process described below, the actions were placed in three tiers, with Tier 1 actions being those that we will prioritize for funding and project development. Tier 2 and 3 actions may be implemented if opportunities arise, but not to the detriment of Tier 1 actions. Within these Tier 1 actions and given the capacity limitations within DFW and the lack of inclusion in programs such as NatureServ, the conservation actions are rarely targeted at one specific species. Rather, actions will be at the scale of the suites of species, usually organized by habitat or taxonomic group. The exception to this are the species that are federally listed such as the VI Tree Boa, the St. Croix Ground Lizard, Roseate Terns, and sea turtles. We will prioritize identifying and managing habitat corridors and Conservation Opportunity Areas (COAs) through research, management, and partnerships with organizations such as the USDA and the Territorial Parks and Protected Areas Division.

Overall priorities include establishing monitoring of habitats and species suites within the COAs, filling data gaps through multi-species monitoring efforts, establishing protocols and relationships for wildlife disease monitoring, implementing management actions to protect imperiled species, and building agency capacity to successfully manage these programs.*****continue to align this with Table

In the species profile table, general action areas are listed for each SGCN. With limited resources, the actions have to be prioritized for implementation to guide our work across the next decade. These actions have been prioritized for implementation based on feedback from experts and the public. Highest priority actions fall into the Tier 1 category, followed by Tier 2 and Tier 3. The table below presents the specific actions, their organizing themes, and perhaps most importantly, the SMART goals associated with each action. Specific details on the prioritization process can be found in the methods below. 

Each theme is linked to an objective that will contribute to indicators for success. Part of the work of the Division of Fish and Wildlife will be to monitor the actions taken by all stakeholders in the U.S. Virgin Islands community to determine if we're making progress towards our thematic actions. To that end, DFW will be initiating an annual gathering of conservation stakeholders to review the SWAP, provide updates, and present research and conservation initiatives and findings. This effort will align with the annual Caribbean Conservation Community of Practice (CCCoP) gathering.

Methods for prioritization:

The actions were ranked during the 2025 feedback period to help the USVI focus its resources. We created a survey asking candidates to select the most important 3 of 13 focus areas binning the 63 actions included in the 2015 SWAP actions.  The top actions received a selection from at least 40% of respondents, which we're calling Tier 1, a larger group received a selection from 20 - 30% of respondents, which we're calling Tier 2, and some actions received a selection from fewer than 20% of respondents, which we're calling Tier 3 as being little supported at this time. 

1. Tier 1 (supported actions) - 4 focus areas: 

   1. 1. Staffing and funding

      2. Data collection and analysis

      3. Direct habitat and species management

      4. Incentives for stakeholders

2. Tier 2 (partially supported actions)  - 7 focus areas: 

   1. 1. Technical training for stakeholders

      2. Species reintroductions

      3. Property acquisition

      4. Species management plans

      5. Stakeholder engagement

      6. Designating protected areas

      7. Outreach and education plans

3. Tier 3 (little support) - 2 focus areas: 

   1. 1. Technical assistance to stakeholders

      2. Environmental review of government permits and plans