The Saint Lucia National Trust C-19 Relief Fund

The Saint Lucia National Trust, would once again like to thank you for your generous donations to our conservation campaign.  We are extremely thankfully for your kind donations which have allowed us to continue our ongoing conservation work. 

During this reporting period, The Trust rehabilitated one of the Turtle nesting beaches at the Pigeon Island National Landmark.  As part of the project, several Casuarina or Australian pine trees were removed. The Casuarina pine is a non-native species of tree introduced to Saint Lucia and Pigeon Island in the 1970’s. The roots of the Casuarina pine are known to create dense mats which prevent marine turtles from nesting. Trust staff have observed that this is indeed the case at the Landmark, with a considerable number of unsuccessful attempts by turtles – primarily endangered greens and critically endangered hawksbills. The Casuarina is also known to create sterile, acidic soils, that inhibits growth of other plants which effects the incubation environment and ultimately, hatchling sex ratios and hatchling success, particularly of the hawksbill turtle. Therefore, as a conservation measure and in keeping with recommendations from the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST), all Casuarina pines were removed from Beach No. 3. The wood from these trees were used to construct much needed park benches. As well, in order to create a wider beach for turtle nesting, and reduce death and injury of turtle hatchlings by vehicles, the coastal access road at the Landmark was realigned and moved further inland.

Although the Turtle nesting season is ongoing, we are already seeing an increase in turtle nesting activity and rate of successful nesting.

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 critically endangered species of Saint Lucia. We hope that you will continue on this journey to conserve Saint Lucia's unique natural heritage.