EVEN though the Bermuda Regiment and Department Parks staff came to the aid of the Turks and Caicos Islands to help repair damaged buildings and clear roads after the devastation wrought on by September's Category 4 Hurricane Ike, Bermuda can't help clean up the Caribbean island's dubious environmental record.

National Geographic's Centre for Sustainable Destinations and the world's most widely read travel magazine, Traveller, labelled the environment and culture of Turks and Caicos "in serious trouble" due to "tourism overkill", among other factors.

The Destination Scorecard survey, in its fourth year, featured a panel of 522 experts in sustainable tourism and destination stewardship who reviewed conditions in 111 selected islands and archipelagos and rated them according to the impact that tourism has had on the environment and culture.

The panel, assisted by George Washington University in Washington, DC, gave the island of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos a score of 44 out of 100, which signified that the islands are "in serious trouble", stating that there is "rampant development at a grand scale. Little attention to ecosystems. Nature is seen as a white sand beach, not a healthy ecosystem.

"What was once a three-storey building limit quietly became a five-storey limit. Two projects nearing completion rise seven storeys. Some native islanders fear that development is at the expense of the island's identity and culture."

Out of the 111 islands surveyed, Providenciales ranked 109th with only Ibiza, Spain and St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands faring worse.

The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) is a country of eight islands located 575 miles south of Miami. Providenciales, familiarly known as "Provo", is the urban hub consisting of 38 square miles.

According to TCI's web site, "Prior to 1960, the island (Provo) had a population of 500. Today, it has the largest population and contains the largest native and nonnative population in Turks and Caicos."

The population of Provo has ballooned since the '60s and "today the unofficial number is more than 30,000", according to the survey panel.

"Many are expats and undocumented aliens drawn by the building boom taking place on Provo, primarily along Grace Bay, one of the loveliest beaches anywhere. Development is proceeding at light speed. Once a raw, romantic coastline is now a strip of mega-hotels on an increasingly crowded beach. Thankfully, surrounding islands are seeing Providenciales as a cautionary tale."

According to National Geographic, the results of the survey demonstrate that "beach-blessed islands draw sun-and-sand resort tourism development that can get out of hand quickly, although there are exceptions. Multiple cruise-ship crowds can also overwhelm an island, transforming it."

Bermuda, which is expecting the arrival of 135 cruise ships next year, was given a score of 66 which translates to "minor difficulties" and sits on the cusp on the next, and worse, category of "In moderate trouble: all criteria medium-negative or a mix of negatives and positives".

Bermuda ranks almost dead centre of the pack, with panellists stating that the island is "one of the most crowded places on earth, and one of the tidiest.

"Cruise ships have a major impact, although the harbour office does a great job of making sure ships conform to environmental regulations. Overbuilt and very expensive."

The panel also stated that tourism has had an impact on Bermuda's cultural integrity: "Culture is still strong, but racial tension continues to grow and is a problem."

While Bermuda has historically been dedicated to the preservation of its culture and environment, a point that the survey recognises, Greenrock, the island's environmental watchdog group, believes the island's vigilance has waned in recent years.

"What is going on in Turks and Caicos is something that Bermuda had recognised back in our golden years of tourism ('50s, '60s and '70s)," stated Andrew Vaucrosson, the non-profit's president.

"Bermuda has always protected its environment (its natural beauty) but in the last 15 years, due to political and economic reasons, there has been less leadership sustainable protection compared to a desire to give Bermuda a complete facelift.

"We are not against development and understand the importance of maintaining our tourism brand in globally dynamic marketplace. But we have yet to see a master plan of what this new vision for Bermuda's tourism product will look like and whether this master plan stands up to the triple-bottom line perspective that we advocate ¿ that is, does it benefit our economy, society and the environment."

The survey sends a warning to all island nations stating that tourism, while a revenue source that can sustain a country, can also compromise the integrity of the environment and cultural identity if left unchecked.

"To protect them, to restore them, we must value them as much as resort developers and cruise companies do. Even more," panellists said.

To find out more information on the Destination Scorecard survey, visit www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler and click on Traveler's Places Rated.

See also Q.&A. on Page 5