2010 International Year of Biodiversity

From left to right :
75c : Green Iguana (美洲鬣蜥) ; 95c : Hercules Beetle (長戟大兜蟲)
$2,50 : White-breasted Thrasher (白胸嘲鶇) ; 30c : Saint Lucia Lobelia (聖露西亞半邊蓮)
St Lucia (2010)
12th June, 2014. Castries

Saint Lucia has been in the forefront of the movement to save the biodiversity of the world as it is a small island developing state with many endemic species. Notable successes include the conservation of the Saint Lucia parrot which is found in Saint Lucia and nowhere else in the world and has been brought back from the brink of extinction in the late 1970s to now having over 1500 birds flying free in the wild at the last count done in 2009 by a newly designed scientific survey. The public awareness campaign using Jacquot, the affectionate name of the bird, as a flagship species for biodiversity conservation from 1979-1989, the Jacquot Consolidation Campaign of 1990-1991, the designation of the bird as the National Bird in 1979, the same year that Saint Lucia attained independence, the designation of the Saint Lucia rain forest as a parrot sanctuary all contributed to the successful efforts to conserve this parrot. Saint Lucia is very grateful for the help that it has obtained for these successes from its various partners including the Durrell Wildlife Preservation Trust and the RARE Centre for Tropical Conservation. The efforts of the Forestry Department must be commended in this regard.

The country can also boast of the rehabilitation of the latanye and mauby plant species important for the livelihoods of many rural people. Through the diligent efforts of the Forestry Department, the plants are now being cultivated by farmers. As a result, the broom and beverage producers can continue their livelihoods. The Aupicon Charcoal Producers is another case in point of individuals benefitting from using biological resources for their livelihoods. For many years, working with the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute and the Fisheries and Forestry Departments, charcoal producers of Vieux Fort would cut the stems of mangrove plants in the Mankote Mangrove without denuding the mangrove forests and the trees would always regenerate.

The Saint Lucia Whiptail lizard which was found only on The Maria Islands has now been successfully translocated to Praslin Island, Dennery Island and Rat Island by the Forestry Department, providing a safety net for this lizard where the male has the colours of the Saint Lucia flag. There are over one thousand individuals of these species living in the wild.