Nancy K. Woodfield Pascoe, the Planning Coordinator of the National Parks Trust.

Mrs. Woodfield Pascoe monitoring the corals.

Hanging out with the team during Arbour Day observance 2009.

Hanging out with the team during Arbour Day observance in 2009.

Well meet Nancy K. Woodfield Pascoe, the Planning Coordinator of the National Parks Trust. At age 37, this Virgin Islander has spent 12 years managing the 21 national parks, compiling annual work plans and seeking funding for historical, recreational and conservation areas.

Born in the Virgin Islands, Mrs. Woodfield Pascoe said working in the environment has been her passion since growing up on Tortola. Her parents used to run the Caribbean Printing and the Welcome magazine.

“I was just passionate about issues affecting the environment because of the smallness of the country you can see how it affects us…you can see when it rains dirt come downs the hills and how it affects the corals,” she said.

At age 14, she and her family left the island for the United Kingdom for her to complete her High School and tertiary education - prior to that she was a student at the St. Georges primary school.

“St Georges was not offering that higher level of education at the time,” she said.

Mrs. Woodfield Pascoe obtained a degree in Geography and a Masters in Third World Development and Environmental Issues from the Royal Holloway College, London University, UK.

“How people interact with the environment and everything that we do in life is based on Geography,” the VIslander said.

The decision while not one that was appreciated at the time Mrs. Woodfield Pascoe sees that her studies have impacted the way she sees the world.

“In growing up here, I feel you do need to go away from a small island. I did not want to leave, but it was a good thing to see parts of the world and when you come back you get a better perspective of life,” she acknowledged.

The way how persons appreciate and interact with the environment is the main focus of the Planning Coordinator’s job. She told VINO that “you can have national parks but if you want to really protect something, you have to get people to value that.”

“My job is very diverse. In the past few years I worked with a team on a project to map the vegetation on Anegada. We used GPS systems and the data collected gave us a better picture of the biodiversity there,” explained Mrs. Woodfield Pascoe.

“We have to monitor what is going on in existing national parks and we also map proposed protected areas, such as a recent project to map proposed marine protected areas  in the BVI. My friends tell me how lucky I am because I am paid to swim, snorkel and dive amongst corals or sea grass around the islands. The data gathered help us to determine where new marine parks should be,” she said with a laugh.

When asked what’s her major accomplishment while working at the National Parks Trust Mrs. Woodfield Pascoe responded that being part of the team to revise the Protected Areas Systems Plan for the Territory.

“I made all the maps. The plan is a guide to where all the marine parks should be and the number of national parks we should have. It was epic when we got the approval from Cabinet because it was not revised since the 1980s. On a smaller scale when the Queen Elizabeth II Park was redeveloped I helped in sourcing the recycled playground equipment, and it is very satisfying because every time I pass I see parents and children just having a good time,” she said with a smile.

Mrs. Woodfield Pascoe’s first real job upon her return to the VI was at the Trust where she began as a Programme Coordinator with responsibility for marine conservation and national parks on Tortola.

However, after seeing her dedication to the job she was reassigned. In light of this, Mrs. Woodfield Pascoe wishes to see more VIslanders showing more interest in getting into the conservation field.

“There are a lot of careers here in the scientific field. We plant mangroves and you see the results from it. You can really see and appreciate what you are doing. There is a diversity of the jobs you have here. Marine biologists, park wardens - it may not pay as much as other careers but the job satisfaction is worthwhile,” she disclosed.

The mother of one added, “The job is ever changing. I just coordinated the Christmas bird count, where you do things like crouch in the mangroves and watch the birds. Actually it’s a lot of fun.  We want the next generation to appreciate what is around them and know what is there in terms of the BVI biodiversity. I believe that every little thing that the National Parks Trust does is to conserve the environment.”