Sustainable Communities in Central America and the Caribbean

Country: Saint Lucia.

Sustainable Communities Pillar: Resilience to Natural Hazards.

Project Title: Building sustainability of the coastal communities of Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia and the Pointe Sable Environmental Protection Area.

Grant Amount: USD$39,983

Implementer: The Saint Lucia National Trust.

Website: www.slunatrust.org

Objective: The project has multiple objectives for improving the sustainability of Vieux Fort’s coastal communities, coastal resources (including Pointe Sable Environmental Protection Area, PSEPA), local livelihoods, human health and nationally-significant economic infrastructure in the south of Saint Lucia. Specifically, the project seeks to promote energy efficiency by establishing a demonstration site and hosting a program of visits; it seeks to build resilience to natural disasters in the face of coastal erosion and climate change by building local community understanding of coastal processes and implementing dune stabilization and beach protection measures; it seeks to improve the sustainability of solid waste management by starting a composting pilot project and by encouraging public-private partnerships for recycling; it seeks to improve water resource management by establishing a rain water harvesting demonstration site and hosting a program of visits, and by improving stormwater drain management; and it will improve the sustainability of local transit in the main recreational zone of Vieux Fort by resolving user conflicts. The project is the first effort in the south of Saint Lucia to take an integrated approach towards local sustainability and stakeholder participation in integrated sustainable development.

Expected outcomes:

  • New public-private partnerships between various levels and sections of government with private actors and non-profit organizations.
  • The implementation of pilot activities will build significant local capacity for sustainable development in the south of Saint Lucia which otherwise will remain lacking under the status quo.
  • The project experience will be shared and can be replicated in other areas of Saint Lucia as well as in other small island developing states.

Project Launch: