1. D E PA RT M E N T O F F O R E S T RY JA N / F E B 2 0 1 0
E N V I RO N M E N TA L E D U C A T I O N U N I T BU L L E T I N
What’s been going on ?
Water, Wetlands and Climate Change Crisis !! HELP !!
World wetlands Day was celebrated this 2nd of February under the theme “Caring for wetlands an an-
swer to climate change”. A series of lectures by the Forestry Department were held at various secon-
dary schools on the island, teaching them the importance of wetland ecosystems and the need to pro-
tect them to thwart the effects of climate change; the signs of which are all around us. Streams, rivers,
mangroves and lakes play a vital role in the water cycle by capturing and holding rainfall, recharging
aquifers, retaining sediments and purifying water. The world is experiencing calamities such as earth-
quakes, tsunamis and droughts with greater frequency and severity.
Did you know that our Roseau dam is drying up by at least one and a half feet (1.5 ft) per day? We
Lucians are crying because of the lack of rain and consequent drought. If you think I am making this up
you will notice the significant dif-
ference in the before and after
photos.
These alarming signs should
wake us from our stupor and in-
different attitude. Young and old
alike should collaborate and do all
within their power to improve our
environment.
World Wetlands Day culminated
with a clean up campaign at the
Roseau dam before drought Roseau dam during drought Makote Mangrove in Vieux Fort
with students of the Micoud Sec-
ondary and Vieux Fort Secondary
Campus B along with their teachers, members of the Aupicon Charcoal Producers and Forestry Depart-
ment staff.
Sad to say this mangrove is used as a dumping ground to all and sundry and everything imaginative
could be found there; old tires, stoves , refrigerators, signs, bottles of all kinds etc. DBS was on hand
to take footage of our efforts and to interview students one of whom said ““we should stop our nasti-
ness because we are doing irreparable damage which deteriorates our life””. Like the good book says
out of the mouth of babes. I could not say it better
myself.
Each of us in our own little way can do some-
thing. Don’t litter, tell others. We only have one
earth one home. Together let us effect change
Makote clean up for a better tomorrow.
Phone: 468-5648/5
E-mail your suggestions/ ideas to:
eeunit@gmail.com Done by: Nicole La Force

2. D E PA RT M E N T O F F O R E S T RY JA N / F E B 2 0 1 0
E N V I RO N M E N TA L E D U C A T I O N U N I T BU L L E T I N
What’s been going on ?
CANARI WORKSHOP HOSTED IN ST. LUCIA
A 3 day CANARI ( Caribbean Natural Resource
Institute) workshop on Forest and Livelihoods was
hosted here in St. Lucia. The main objective of the
workshop was “Building the capacity of CBO’s and
NGO’s for participatory forest management that en-
hances the contribution of forests to sustainable live-
lihoods”.
Participants included: bee farmers, latanye farmers,
broom makers, craft makers, environmental groups
such as the Thomazo Water catchment and Aupicon
Visit to the newly completed latanye and Mauby nursery with Charcoal group, Superior Broom Association etc.
broom making demonstration by Paulina Ferdinand president
of Superior Brooms Association
Participants enjoyed the comradery and interchange
of ideas under the guiding hand of Neila Bobb-
Prescott workshop coordinator and CANARI repre-
sentative.
This was an opportunity to express frustrations,
learn new approaches, receive encouragement and
guidance.
The newly constructed nursery of the Superior
Broom Association, the Des Cartieres Forest trail
and the Aupicon Charcoal group at Makote man-
Visit to Makote Mangrove demon- grove was visited.
Visit to Des Cartieres Forest Trail
stration of charcoal making
Some of the challenges expressed by persons of the various groups were lack of
cooperation among group members and lack of financial and technical support by
government agencies.
Mrs. Bobbb-Prescott (CANARI representative) emphasized that in any organiza-
tion the objectives, mission and vision must be known and shared by everyone and
that the benefit derived as a group must be greater than that which can be derived
as an individual. Without this, she said, the group could never survive.
Participants were also put in contact with funding agencies such as the St. Lucia
Development Bank who would be willing to assist. I think the participants left the
Presentation on lessons learned by workshop feeling hopeful and motivated to continue to persevere.
group members
Thanks to Sylvie Raymond along with Alfred Prospere and Magdalene
Marcelin who organized the logistics so that all went well.
Phone: 468-5648/5
E-mail your suggestions/ ideas to: Done by: Nicole La Force
eeunit@gmail.com

3. D E PA RT M E N T O F F O R E S T RY JA N / F E B 2 0 1 0
E N V I RO N M E N TA L E D U C A T I O N U N I T BU L L E T I N
What’s been going on ?
Iguana Vs Iguana
Folks the Forestry Department
has a dilemma on its hands.
There is a battle for territory
and supremacy waging be-
tween two distinct iguanas.
The beautiful St. Lucian
iguana better known as
Iyanola pictured right and the
ugly invasive Green iguana
Invasive Green Alien Iguana pictured left. The difference is St. Lucia’s Unique Iguana Iyanola
obvious. The green iguanas don’t
have that lovely black and white striped body that our iguanas have.
The St. Lucian iguana is unique to our island and cannot be found anywhere else in the world and presently
makes its home on the north east coast (Louvette, Grande Anse and so on) whereas the green iguana is a pest,
an invader which has established itself in Soufriere and environs. The green iguana has become a pest in more
than 10 other countries including Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin,
Turks and Caicos all the way north to the United States .
We need to eradicate this invader. Why? Let’s put it like this. If someone offered you a very rare ,unique and
priceless precious gem or a common cheap cracker jack rhinestone , which would you pick? The answer is obvi-
ous isn’t it. Well, that priceless gem is our unique Iyanola iguana and we need to protect and preserve it at all
cost. We cannot allow the population of the green iguana to increase. We cannot permit this cheap cracker jack
rhinestone to breed with our unique iguana, corrupting it genetically. We need to preserve our iguana’s unique-
ness.
For this reason there is an ongoing awareness campaign where the challenge is to simultaneously preserve one
and annihilate the other. We must tread carefully with the public that they don’t mistake one for the other. That
they don’t carelessly introduce the invasive in the territory of our unique which we definitely don’t want.
There is soon to have a bounty for the spotting of the invasive in and around Soufriere. You receive $50 just for
spotting it and calling it in ( tel:5198215 or 7134974 ) and when it is captured you get paid. Nothing more nothing
less.
It’s wonderful to get positive feed back and to realize that what you do is having a positive impact. So was the
case earlier this month of a St. Lucian iguana (Iyanola) who was rescued from the lethal bites of dogs by resi-
dents of the La Ressource community in Dennery where a lot of the St. Lucia iguana protection awareness cam-
paign has been focused.
Let’s all collaborate and do our part in educating those not informed and in protecting what’s uniquely ours before
it’s lost forever, never to be enjoyed by our children’s children, the future generation of fair Helen.
Phone: 468-5648/5
E-mail your suggestions/ ideas to: Done by: Nicole La Force
eeunit@gmail.com

4. D E PA RT M E N T O F F O R E S T RY JA N / F E B 2 0 1 0
E N V I RO N M E N TA L E D U C A T I O N U N I T BU L L E T I N
What’s been going on ?
Latanye, Mauby Nursery completed at La Pointe Mon Repos
Latanye palm
Germination bins Completed latanye nursery office
The Chief Forest Officer congratulating Superior
Brooms Association president Mrs. Paulina Ferdinand
The long awaited construction of a latanye (Coccothrinox barbadensis) nursery is finally completed. The nursery
consists of two (2) germination bins, a building to house washrooms, store rooms and offices. It is located on
lands leased by Superior Brooms Association adjacent to the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Ferdinand who are also
members of the Superior Brooms Association with Mrs. Ferdinand being the president.
The official handing over ceremony of the Latanye nursery from IICA to the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, For-
estry and Fisheries to the Superior Broom Producers took place on Tuesday 9 th February at 2:30pm at La
Pointe Mon Repos.
The ceremony was attended by members of the Superior Broom Producers, the La Pointe community, IICA's staff
including Ms. Una May Gordon and Dr. Kurt Delice, Ms. Brenda Wilson from the Ministry of Social Transforma-
tion (the master of ceremonies), and personnel from the Ministry of Agriculture Lands Forestry and Fisheries in-
cluding the Permanent Secretary, the Chief Forest Officer,
Bernadine Evans of Extension, Vincent La Cobiniere of the Marketing Unit and Worrel St. Louis of the Information
Unit.
A long awaited dream has come true through the collaborative efforts of many stakeholders and the perseverance
of the Superior Broom Association especially that of the president Mrs. Paulina Ferdinand. The nursery’s first tar-
get is to produce 10000 Latanye plants of the highest quality which will be available for sale to broom makers.
Cheers to Paulina Ferdinand and the Superior Broom Producers, for sustaining the livelihoods of broom makers
and the conservation of Latanye on our beautiful isle.
We wish them continued success and sustainability !!
Phone: 468-5648/5
E-mail your suggestions/ ideas to: Done by: Nicole La Force
eeunit@gmail.com