Journal of Marine and Island Cultures

Cultural diversity is highly dependent on the regional environment and natural resources. From an environmental historical perspective, the course of destruction of human civilization resulting from the depletion of ecosystems and resources, we confirm how the sustainable use of resources and appropriate conservation strategies are contributing to regional development. Due to the recent rapid changes in climate, the environments of oceanic and island regions are changing and the ecosystems and biological diversity are also undergoing significant changes. Island residents are very vulnerable to the changing natural environment, and diverse cultural characteristics and ecosystem knowledge that has been maintained up until now are under a threat of gradual extinction. Traditional culture and knowledge are related to the survival of islanders. This situation is understood throughout the world; in response to which, international organizations such as the IUCN and UNESCO, etc. have also put forth continuing efforts in preserving the life, cultures, ecology and knowledge of the island regions. This paper purports to provide a brief description of the international trends and backgrounds based on the ‘Island Biocultural Diversity Initiative’ and the latest activities.

The penetration of financialization into the biocultural geographies of islands builds upon processes of commodification and privatization of environments, entailing enclosures of resource commons, environmental destruction and displacement of people, their livelihoods, knowledge and practices, with implications for sustainability. Against this background I critique the growing literature on acronym models of island development, arguing for more careful consideration of issues concerning democracy, human rights and sustainability. Drawing on the ‘right to the city’ literature, I highlight the importance of the ‘right to the island’ in an effort to move beyond the policy imperatives of MIRAB, SITE and PROFIT. Exercising the right to the island involves cultivating radically pluralistic democracy through struggles for alternative island futures. In so doing it problematizes what it means to develop and achieve sustainability.

Land and water, landscape and seascape, nature and culture, communication and isolation, island and islanders are inseparable dualities. In this introductory paper of the new journal on Marine and Island Cultures, the relationship between these dualities is discussed and a few key concepts such as insularity, isolation, island laboratories and biocultural diversity are mentioned.