As a member of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) formed in 1981, Dominica shares environmental problems common to the area's island countries. Water shortages are among the most significant. Other areas of concern are pollution from chemicals used in farming and untreated sewage. The nation's forests are endangered by the expansion of farming activities.

Pollution of the nation's coastal waters threatens the tourist trade in the area. Two extensive areas have been set aside as nature reserves. The southern reserve, which constitutes Morne Trois Pitons National Park, covers an area of 6,500 hectares (16,100 acres). In it are the nesting places of the red-necked and imperial parrots, both endangered species of Dominica; the tundra peregrine falcon and the green sea and hawksbill turtles are also classified as endangered. Hurricanes are the most destructive natural threat to the environment.

Water pollution

Water pollution was a serious problem in Dominica in the 1980s. Large amounts of liquid and solid wastes from an oil and soap factory, a paint factory, rum distilleries, citrus processing, bay oil distilleries, and banana packaging were being dumped untreated into rivers, streams, and the sea. Health hazards also accompanied banana cultivation, particularly through the use of agrochemicals. In 1984 the United States Agency for International Development (AID) made a US$1.7- million package of assistance available to the banana industry of Dominica. Included in this package was a supply of the herbicide paraquat, which for years had been banned by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as a carcinogenic substance. In the 1980s, this chemical was widely used throughout Dominica's banana industry without the benefit of protective clothing. It was quite common to see village children carrying fresh water to their homes in bright yellow plastic bottles labelled PARAQUAT.

In an effort to address these clinical and environmental concerns, in 1982 Dominica unveiled a five-year national health plan with an emphasis on decentralization of administration and delivery of health care. At the base of the plan was the primary health-care unit, designed to serve a minimum population of 600 within an 8-kilometer radius. The primary health-care approach included home visitation by multidisciplinary teams of nurses, extension agents, and public health workers; education sessions at the village and family levels; radio programs; use of posters; and the mobilization of community groups around public sanitation, the environment, nutrition, and health. Four or five health-care units were supported by a health center, where more comprehensive services were available. The Princess Margaret Hospital in Roseau served as the nation's secondary referral facility and offered inpatient services in medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, and psychiatry. One hundred and forty beds were available for general care with another forty for psychiatry. Limited in-patient care was available in the sixteen-bed Marigot Hospital and the thirty-six-bed Portsmouth Hospital. Limited medical care and long-term nursing care were offered at the ninetybed Central Geriatric Institution.

Wise Coastal Management: Pollution Issues in Dominica

As Dominica moves to maturity as a nation state, her singular natural endowment entrusts her with a responsibility to be a model of sustainable development for small island states. While there exist varying levels of environmental awareness and a mild degree of activism among the general population, the environment has played and continues to play an increasingly important role in Dominica’s development.