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Travelmole highlights “sustainable tourism delights” in the Caribbean

January 20th, 2012

Statia from the seaAs the 2012 Sustainable Tourism Awards approach (nominations close Janauary 31), TravelMole is highlighting a variety of sustainable tourism best practice cases from around the Caribbean. Here’s the list:

• A fishing community [Bluefields Bay] on Jamaica’s South Coast taking action to regenerate its nearby marine environment

• Developing agrotourism in the Caribbean. Key elements include farm-based tourism, community tourism, agro-heritage tourism, agro-trade, culinary tourism and health and wellness tourism

• Saint Lucia recently unveiled a new state-of-the-art visitor attraction at La Place Carenage in the Castries harbor<

• Guyana will be the proud host of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s 13th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development (STC-13) from 15-18 April, 2012

• St. Eustatius, also known as Statia, is a virtual undiscovered ‘gold mine’ for sustainable tourism in the Caribbean

• Spice Basket is Grenada’s newest and most talked about attraction—providing a cultural experience for both visitors and locals alike

• Two Community Tourism leaders who lead active organizations have teamed up to offer visitors a novel, experiential educational vacation in Jamaica ‘Home of Community Tourism’

• A Bahamian hotelier believes investing in environmental protection and management is integral to conserving the Caribbean’s fragile habitat.

• Partnership aims to ensure hoteliers receive the relevant tools required to implement a waste minimisation and recycling programme in their hotel

[Photo: gogoshire]

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After success with the Antiguan racer, now to preserve the St. Lucia racer snake

January 11th, 2012

St. Lucia Racer snake (Liophis ornatus)Following the success of their work to Offshore Islands Conservation Programme will be lending their expertise to a very similar project in St. Lucia:

The Antiguan Racer Conservation Project, co-ordinated by the Environmental Awareness Group since the first rare snake was discovered in 1995, is world renowned for its enormous success in bringing the population of back from the brink of extinction.

Recently the project, now called the Offshore Island Conservation Programme, had the opportunity to partner with a similar project which will be getting underway in St Lucia.

The St Lucia Racer (Liophis ornatus) or Kouwés is one of four snakes considered endemic to St. Lucia (the other three are the Fer-de-lance, boa constrictor and worm snake). The St Lucia racer snake has been red-listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as endangered since 1996 with later calls being made for it to be changed to critically endangered.

Like the Antiguan Racer, the St Lucia Racer population has suffered due to the introduction of the small Asian mongoose, Herpestes javanicus.

Once common on the mainland, this snake is now known only from Maria Major, a 12 hectare island off St Lucia.

Maria Major is also home to other very rare and endemic St Lucian wildlife, including the Maria Islands pygmy gecko and St Lucia whiptail lizard, and seasonally supports large colonies of nesting seabirds.

The parallels between the two snakes cannot be ignored. Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Forestry Department of Ministry of Agriculture in St Lucia are planning for another parallel, the creation of a project similar in scope and goal to the Antiguan Racer conservation effort. Some objectives of this new project include a determination of the conservation status of the St Lucia racer and its primary ecological needs and threats, and the development of a recovery strategy.

Read more about the project, which seems to be off to a good start, in the original article from 365 Antigua.

Previously on Green Antilles: Conservation success story: the recovery of the Antiguan racer, Antiguan racer snake: ABS TV interview and Saving St. Lucia’s fer-de-lance.

[Photo: Matthew Morton, Durrell Wildlife, via 365antigua.com]

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National climate change consultation to be held in St. Lucia

October 31st, 2011

Castries, St. LuciaIn St. Lucia, the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) will be holding a national consultation on climate change adaptation:

The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) is implementing a project in Saint Lucia that will catalyse action by civil society to counteract the negative impacts of climate change. This is being done in partnership with the Saint Lucia National Trust.

The project will help stakeholders from civil society to understand more completely how climate change will impact the forest, coastal and marine ecosystems examine impact on the livelihoods of the many Saint Lucians who depend on these ecosystems for goods and services, including coastal protection and erosion control on hillsides. The project will also help civil society to identify what they can do to participate in decision-making and action to adapt to climate change.

A national civil society consultation will be held in Castries, Saint Lucia with various stakeholders engaged in natural resource management and livelihood activities. This will be based on the various policies and plans of the Saint Lucian Government, but will emphasise the role of civil society in identifying and dealing with climate change
impacts. A civil society plan of action to address climate change in Saint Lucia will be developed.

The consultation is scheduled to take place from Monday November 7 to Thursday November 11. The venue has not yet been decided upon. Get more information in this CANARI news release .

[Photo: Bruce Irschick]

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The Nature Conservancy and Caribbean conservation

October 26th, 2011

Nature Conservancy Caribbean Programme
Came across this via The Huffington Post: an interview with the Director of the Nature Conservancy’s Caribbean programme. Here’s an excerpt:

When did The Nature Conservancy (TNC) launch its Caribbean program?

As you may know, The Nature Conservancy is one of the oldest conservation organizations in the U.S. We launched sixty years ago with a focus on serious land protection in the U.S. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the organization began dabbling in international work when we assisted the British Virgin Islands in securing the 30-acre Fallen Jerusalem Island which later became a national park. By the mid-1980s, we had staff on the ground in the Caribbean, who were working with the local governments to create a few national parks that could serve as beacons of hope for the rest of the area. We began in the Dominican Republic, followed by Jamaica and the US Virgin Islands, and then launched the Bahamas initiative in 2000.

…

What were/are the main challenges?

The complex political landscape obviously presents a major challenge. We work with twelve countries and seventeen island territories. You can imagine the delicate balance this represents. On the other hand, we have also found many of the governments open to the idea that to make a splash on the global stage, they have to work together. Alone, none of the islands stand out. Together, they could have a powerful voice in places like the U.N., where decisions about the world get made. We are really working on getting the countries to recognize the benefits of banding together. Overall, the region has so much going for it: there’s little political unrest and a high literacy level throughout.

Can you describe the idea behind the Caribbean Challenge?

We launched this region-wide campaign in May 2008 with the Bahamian government, alongside leaders from Grenada, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Since, we’ve been joined by St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, and the Cayman Islands with others poised to follow. The goal is to protect the health of the Caribbean’s lands and waters. The leaders recognize that it’s not enough to establish new parks or marine protected areas because that’s actually only half the conservation equation. The other half, the one that makes lasting conservation possible, is permanent funding.

The full interview is a great read for insights into some of the challenges and rewards of conservation work in the Caribbean.

See also: the Nature Conservancy website.

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International Coastal Cleanups in the Caribbean

September 16th, 2011


International Coastal Cleanup Day is coming! In Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis (see also), St. Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Cleanup Day will be Saturday, September 17, 2011.

The St. Lucian Cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, September 24.

Coastal Cleanups in The Bahamas will take place on both the 17th and the 24th of September.

In Barbados, September 17 is Clean Up Barbados day. Cleanup locations include coastal and inland sites. The Coastal Cleanup Day will be Saturday, September 24, and it’s being organised by the Barbados branch of the Caribbean Youth Environment Network.

Follow the links above for more information.

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Partnerships for Resilience: Caribbean Fish Sanctuaries

September 12th, 2011



Partnerships for Resilience: Caribbean Fish Sanctuaries (22min) was produced by the CARIBSAVE Partnership to increase awareness of the potential benefits that fish sanctuaries (also known as marine protected areas, no-take-zones or conservation areas) can generate for the environment, for fisheries and for the local community. The film emphasizes the importance of getting fishermen involved in the planning and management of fish sanctuaries and illustrates this with examples from Jamaica, Belize, St Lucia and Barbados. With the increasing threats from climate change and over-fishing, the need for a Caribbean network of fish sanctuaries is now considered by many scientists and fishermen as an essential strategy to build the resilience of marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

Previously on Green Antilles: Partnerships for Resilience: Climate Change and Caribbean Tourism.

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Environmental awareness raising in St. Lucia, through the interactive Our Planet centre

June 20th, 2011

Our Planet Centre, St. LuciaA state of the art interactive environmental education centre has opened in St. Lucia:

Our Planet is the only interactive visitor centre of its kind in the world.

At Our Planet visitors can:

• Walk through the Immersion Tunnel showing how our Planet and its climate started;
• Sit in the “Mirrorsphere” and see a kaleidoscopic view of our our world;
• View the our Planet from Space with Science on a Sphere installed by NOAA/NASA;
• Play more than ten interactive games and try out the “learning zone”;
• Listen to the stories of St Lucians who are working to conserve their environment;
• Play in the motion sensitive floor projection;
• Experience extreme weather events in the special effects theatre.

After your visit, you can browse around the Our Planet shop which sells innovative gifts made by local St Lucian artists and craftsmen. All profits from Our Planet ticket or shop sales, and all profits from the Ice Planet Cafe will go to fund St Lucian environmental initiatives – see our “initiatives” page or go to our “adopt an animal” page to see how you can help support St Lucian wildlife.

Find out more at ourplanetcentre.org and in the press release below.


(Via.)

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Renewable energy in the Caribbean

May 9th, 2011

The Caribbean islands are still almost entirely dependent on oil for their electricity needs. Renewable energy plays a negligible role in the region’s energy supply despite the fact that geographical and climate conditions are ideal. Theoretically, the islands could meet all their electricity needs with geothermal energy and hydropower – and slowly but surely, that switch is happening. Report by Elke Opielka.

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Caribbean leaders “are only pretending to care” about agriculture

April 7th, 2011

Caribbean Farmers Network (CaFAN)At a recent meeting in St. Lucia, Caribbean small farmers expressed dissatisfaction with the level of support they are receiving from their governments:

Small farmer organisations from across the Caribbean have criticized regional governments and their bureaucrats for leaving them to “see for themselves” during a period of rising food prices and declining agricultural products.

The criticism came during the start of a two-day workshop here Tuesday to discuss the benefits from a technical assistance programme being initiated by the Caribbean Farmers Network (CaFAN) and funded by the Office of Europe-Africa-Caribbean-Pacific Liaison Committee, Pest Initiative Programme (COLEACP/PIP).

COLEACP/PIP is an inter-professional organisation devoted to the ACP-EU horticultural trade. It’s global objective is to promote the horticultural trade of African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and to strengthen the competitiveness of ACP horticultural export companies and, in particular, small and medium-scale growers.

It also seeks to ensure compliance of exports with the demands of EU markets in terms of the official controls and commercial requirements. Conference coordinator Jetro Greene said that Caribbean governments have placed the farming industry on the back burner providing little support to the farming community.

He told delegates that even now, at a time of a food crisis, Caribbean leaders were only pretending to care since it has been very easy to discern that they were not really concerned.

“So what they are trying to do now is to play catch-up. They are a lot of recommendations on paper and several policy documents but in terms of adopting any practical or implementing solutions there are not even proper financing mechanisms for farmers to produce commodities.

“There are not even proper marketing and storage throughout most of these countries, these some of the burning concerns. So we in the Caribbean Farmers Network decided that it was time to act, as we can no longer trust the future of agriculture at the national and regional level in the hands of bureaucrats who jump around like chickens with their heads cut off when there is problem and who have been pushing services over agriculture,” Greene said.

See the complete article at the Antigua Observer website.

Related: caribbeanfarmers.org, the website of the Caribbean Farmers Network.

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Partnerships for Resilience: Climate Change and Caribbean Tourism

March 25th, 2011


“Partnerships for Resilience: Climate Change and Caribbean Tourism” was produced by the CARIBSAVE Partnership to increase awareness of some of the threats facing the Caribbean’s largest economic sector. The aim of the film is also to highlight opportunities for win-win adaptation strategies that provide immediate and long-term benefits. It showcases success stories from across the region of partnerships between communities, private sector and governments that are strengthening the social and environmental resilience of this vulnerable region.

Previously on Green Antilles: How climate change could reshape the Caribbean.

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