Preserving Paradise: How BVI is Keeping its Cultural Heritage Alive

That single public exchange captures the central tension running through cultural preservation in the British Virgin Islands today. On one hand, the government has drafted a comprehensive Culture and Heritage Policy and Strategy (2023–2028) and committed millions to restoring heritage sites. On the other, citizens say those protections don’t always translate into practice during the territory’s most culturally significant season. This guide examines how the BVI is navigating that gap—and what it means for anyone who wants to engage with the islands’ culture beyond the beach.

Looking closer at Mervin Hastings reframed the whole question.

The policy framework: Vision 2036 and the Culture & Heritage Strategy

In February 2023, Premier Dr. Natalio D. Wheatley launched the Virgin Islands National Sustainable Development Plan—Vision 2036. Public consultations had revealed one overriding concern among BVI residents: protecting national identity, fostering cultural integration, and strengthening heritage and cultural education. The Premier, who also holds the Culture portfolio, stated plainly: “you can’t know where you’re going unless you know where you came from.”

The resulting Virgin Islands Culture and Heritage Policy and Strategy 2023–2028 is the territory’s first coordinated attempt to define and safeguard its cultural identity. Dr. Katherine Smith, director of culture, noted that responsibilities had been fragmented across multiple stakeholders. The policy aims to integrate culture throughout the education sector—pre-primary through tertiary—and to develop working relationships with the Ministry of Education, public and private schools.

The policy also promises to research and document traditional knowledge of medicinal plants and remedies, natural health practices like midwifery, and traditional food preparation methods. These are not abstract goals: they respond directly to the knowledge that residents like Mervin Hastings’ grandmother—a herbalist who treated coughs, fevers, and nausea when pharmacies were unavailable 30 to 40 years ago—still hold but risk losing.

What’s still unresolved: the policy is a five-year strategy (2023–2028), but the government gave itself only three months to establish an implementation framework and timeline. Whether that framework has been fully operationalized remains unclear, and citizens have pointed to specific gaps.

The gap: citizen concerns about cultural space

On May 8, 2026, a group of concerned citizens submitted correspondence to Guavaberry Media asking publicly: who approved the “Ms. Philippines BVI Pageant 2026” and “Little Ms. Philippines BVI” promotions within the territory’s public cultural space during the Emancipation Festival period? They described Emancipation as “one of the most sacred, historic, and prideful moments within Virgin Islands cultural life.” The citizens affirmed respect for all residents—the territory is home to people from more than 100 nationalities—but argued that the increasing prominence of external cultural expressions in public platforms raised questions about cultural policy boundaries and the protection of ancestral Virgin Islands traditions.

The citizens called for the establishment of an independent cultural review or safeguarding board, greater transparency in event approval, and a formal written response to their concerns. As of the date of publication, none had been received.

Commenters on the article offered opposing views. One, posting as “Tortolian,” pointed out that cultural events from other communities are normal in diverse countries: Caribbean communities host West Indies parades in Canada and the UK; Japanese festivals take place in Brazil; Chinese New Year is celebrated in Australia. Another commenter, “Well said !!!,” argued that when a culture is strong and confident, it is not threatened by allowing people to celebrate their own heritage. The debate itself is part of the preservation story.

Grassroots preservation: walking the guts with Mervin Hastings

While policymakers and citizens debate the boundaries of cultural space, a quieter kind of preservation is happening on the ground. Marine biologist Mervin Hastings, who serves as Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Climate Change, grew up exploring the terrain of Tortola and leading visitors on hikes and snorkeling trips. His grandmother was a herbalist who taught him the medicinal uses of plants like the trumpet tree—traditionally used as a cold and cough remedy, for heart failure or bronchitis, and whose leaves are made into tea for lowering blood pressure. Dried leaves are smoked to alleviate asthma in some traditions. Soursop fruit, he shares, has anti-cancer properties and is traditionally used in the BVI for insomnia.

During COVID lockdowns, Hastings recorded Facebook Live trail adventures, sharing folk tales, landmark histories, and his grandmother’s plant knowledge. Friends encouraged wider sharing, and he founded Eco Adventures BVI—a family-run operation offering approximately 10 different experiences, including jungle hikes and marine life discovery. His tours traverse “guts,” tree-shrouded trails beside rivers flowing down mountainsides, with botany lessons every few steps. The tours include a visit to Tortola’s only pineapple farm, where the farmer greets groups with a machete-opened coconut, and a tasting of guavaberry wine, a BVI beverage.

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For visitors who want to join a guided cultural tour with a similar emphasis on history and ecology, consider a BVI Cultural Tour or a Historical and Heritage Tour through Viator, which connects travelers to local operators.

Context and comparison: three approaches to preservation

The BVI’s preservation efforts can’t be understood in isolation. Across the Caribbean, small island territories face similar pressures: tourist economies that pull cultural expression toward performance, demographic shifts from immigration, and the tension between official heritage policy and lived practice. The BVI approach is distinctive in its emphasis on formal policy infrastructure—but the real comparison lies in how different actors within the territory prioritize different aspects of culture.

Questions readers ask

Is the BVI’s culture actually at risk of disappearing?

The risk is uneven. Some traditions—like medicinal plant knowledge held by elders—are genuinely endangered because they are passed orally and not systematically documented. Other elements, like festival pageants and food traditions, are actively maintained. The 2023–2028 policy was drafted explicitly because the government recognized the threat.

What is the Emancipation Festival, and why does it matter?

Emancipation Festival, observed primarily in late July and early August, commemorates the 1834 abolition of slavery in the British Empire. It is the territory’s most significant cultural season, featuring pageants, parades, music, and community gatherings. Citizens consider it sacred because it directly ties to the ancestral experience of freedom.

Can visitors participate in cultural preservation efforts?

Yes, primarily through educational tourism. Booking a tour with a guide like Mervin Hastings directly supports knowledge transmission. Attending public events during Emancipation Festival (with appropriate respect and awareness) also contributes. Avoid performances that feel staged solely for tourists—seek out experiences where locals are the primary audience.

Why did the Filipino pageant cause controversy?

The controversy wasn’t about the pageant itself but about its timing and promotion. Citizens felt that a pageant representing another national identity was being promoted in public cultural space during the most important season for Virgin Islands heritage, without any apparent cultural review or policy oversight. It became a flashpoint for broader questions about how the government manages cultural space.

What is the current state of the National Museum?

Cabinet has decided to transform the Old Administration building into a National Museum. The Lower Estate Sugar Works Museum & Art Gallery restoration will begin in late 2026. Both projects are in the planning or early funding phase as of mid-2026.

What preservation reveals about the BVI today

The BVI’s effort to preserve its cultural heritage is not a finished story—it’s a live negotiation between policy, protest, and practice. The 2023–2028 Culture and Heritage Policy provides a framework, but citizens are testing whether it has teeth. Grassroots educators like Mervin Hastings are doing the daily work of keeping knowledge alive, often outside official channels. Meanwhile, record tourist arrivals—1,202,008 in 2025—create both economic incentive and pressure on cultural authenticity.

What preservation reveals, ultimately, is that culture in the BVI is not a static artifact to be protected from change. It’s a living, contested, evolving set of practices that Virgin Islanders are actively arguing about, shaping, and passing on. That argument itself is the heritage worth paying attention to.

For more on the traditions that ground this work, read about ancestral drum circles in the BVI—a tradition that, like so much here, is both ancient and actively reimagined.

Sources and further reading

Guavaberry Media. “Concerned Virgin Islands Citizens Call for Greater Protection of Virgin Islands Heritage, Identity and Cultural Public Platforms.” 2026. 🔗

The Virgin Islands Consortium. “BVI Looking to Preserve its Culture and Heritage as it Develops Vision 2036.” 2023. 🔗

BVI London Office. “2026 Territorial Address: Keep Moving Forward, Building a Sustainable Nation.” 2026. 🔗

Veranda. “British Virgin Islands Conservation.” 2024. 🔗

Related reading on IslandHopperGuides

Beyond the Blue: Giving Back and Responsible Cultural Tourism in the BVI — practical guidance on engaging with BVI culture respectfully.

Tracing African Roots in the BVI: A Journey Through Heritage and Remembrance — deeper context on the ancestral traditions that underpin Emancipation Festival.

BVI Storytelling: Keeping Tradition Alive Through Folktales and Ancestral Wisdom — the oral traditions Mervin Hastings and others are working to preserve.