Promote conservation in 15 Caribbean islands!

It is getting very exciting within the Caribbean as more and more of our Community Action Campaigns have been hitting the streets across multiple countries. 

Community Action Campaigns have been creating hype in schools and communities across St Vincent & the Grenadines, St Lucia, Tobago, The Bahamas and Grenada. The campaigns focus on role models and opinion leaders opening a dialogue around the value of nature, particularly mangroves, in protecting us from climate change.  The campaigns culminate in a day of action where community groups come together to take part in activities such as mangrove rehabilitation or planting. The Community Action Campaigns were generously funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Within all these countries our campaigns have began with increasing awareness and knowledge of students. Multiple primary school and secondary school visits showed how important mangroves are to humans and got them extremely motivated to protect their beaches and mangroves. With the help of our mascots, we got all the kids up on their feet and passionate about this critical issue.

“I learnt that mangroves are very useful and we should take better care of them. They help filter water and are homes to marine animals. I want to go spread the word so everyone can know how important mangroves are”. –Student, primary school in St. Vincent

There have also been large amounts of activities outside of schools including media appearances, community theater performances focused around mangroves, teacher trainings, and more largely mangrove replanting and cleanup events. Attended by students of the visited schools along with other community members, these events allow everyone to get their hands dirty and realize that ever little action counts in protecting these invaluable ecosystems. Hundreds of bags of garbage have been collected and disposed of properly and restoration sites are filling in! The large amounts of progress we have made could not be possible without the support of our donors and partners. Because of them we already have a handful of other activities planned for the near future to increase the resilience of communities all throughout the Caribbean. 

Links:

• http://mediaimpact.org/production/callaloo/
• Media Impact's Caribbean Program Manager talks about our work

Primary schools across Saint Lucia are bubbling with excitement after being visited by a White-breasted Thrasher, an Iguana, a piece of Coral and “Tin Tin” as part of a series of activities that are being led by PCI Media Impact as part of My Island-My Community.  

The primary school students had a chance to play, interact, sing and ask questions with the mascots that visited the schools as part of a campaign to raise awareness about the important role that nature plays in protecting the community from a changing climate as well as the actions that students can take.

The colorful mascots and students danced to a specially produced theme song and the visiting representatives shared information about the importance of protecting local mangrove and watershed areas, with particular attention to the benefits of the Mankòtè Mangrove, one of two RAMSAR sites on Saint Lucia, to the surrounding community.

Secondary school students were also in awe when popular recording artistes from Saint Lucia performed as their schools. The musicians performed their popular songs in a outdoor concert with the themes in the music addressing climate change and biodiversity.

During the secondary school activities, students were engaged in discussion on climate change, biodiversity conservation and the role of mangroves in eco-system function, with professionals from the coalition, as well as with the visiting local artistes. Students were also treated to various memorabilia, promotional material on climate change.

The school visits will culminate in a community cleanup of the Mankòtè Mangrove on the 25^th March 2013. This activity will bring together the students, friends and family together to take action to protect this precious natural resources. The cleanup will also include a number of local musicians, the mascots and promote behavior change towards climate change and biodiversity conservation.

• St. Lucia Community Action Campaign (DOCX)