The Saint Lucia National Trust C-19 Relief Fund

The Saint Lucia National Trust, would once again like to thank all those persons who have generously donated to our campaign.  

Although the Covid-19 pandemic has continued to impact the tourism sector, a glimmer of hope has been seen on the horizon, with increasing visitation to Saint Lucia and also to our flagship site, Pigeon Island National Landmark.  However, the increasing cost of goods and services caused by both the pandemic and the surge in oil prices caused by the war in Ukraine, has continued to put a strain on our finances, which in turn has had spin off effects on our operations and conservation work.  

Thankfully, your kind donations have allowed us to continue not only with the maintenance and upkeep of the Pigeon Island National Landmark, but also to assist us in the implementation of important programmes, such as our turtle monitoring programme and our offshore island monitoring programme.

During this reporting period, we recommenced our turtle monitoring programme in the south of Saint Lucia, at the Pointe Sable Environmental Protection Area (PSEPA), which is managed by the Trust.  We are happy to report that successful nestings of Green, Hawksbill and Leatherback turtles have been confirmed and we look forward to seeing the hatchlings in the coming months. Important biodata has also been collected for these species and untagged turtles have been tagged. Such tagging greatly assists scientists both regionally and internationally in tracking the movements of these species in the world's oceans and seas. 

We at the Trust has also continued our offshore island monitoring work at the Maria Islands, home to several endemic and endangered species, including the Saint Lucia Whiptail Lizard and the world's rarest snake, the Saint Lucia Racer. The islands are also an important nesting site for migratory bird species for the United States and Africa. 

It is ciritcal that these unique species are protected, as they form an important part of Saint Lucia's unique biodiversity and your kind donations are allowing us to do so.  

We are very thankful for the contributions received thus far and express our deepest gratitude to all our donors. Your support has enabled us to continue our efforts to conserve the heritage of Saint Lucia . We hope that you will continue on this journey with us as we  work steadfastly to conserve Saint Lucia's unique natural and cultural heritage.