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‘Selling’ St. Lucia’s Biodiversity – Challenge for Media

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img: The relocation of turtle eggs is a delicate and scientific exercise. The group came upon several turtle eggs that needed to be relocated because the nest they were in was struck by erosion from high tides.
img: The relocation of turtle eggs is a delicate and scientific exercise. The group came upon several turtle eggs that needed to be relocated because the nest they were in was struck by erosion from high tides.
The relocation of turtle eggs is a delicate and scientific exercise. The group came upon several turtle eggs that needed to be relocated because the nest they were in was struck by erosion from high tides.

ST. LUCIA has a rich variety of life. Its biological diversity is immense. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous variety of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on this small island such as rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse St. Lucia.

However, to maintain this appropriate conservation and sustainable development strategies must be attempted. This must be recognized as being integral to any approach taken to safeguarding the country’s rich variety of life.

But have we, meaning the people and government, recognized how important nature and its biological diversity are to our survival? But most of all, have we really understood the need to maintain it and that precarious balance between nature and man’s greed to take away as much as he can from nature hereby affecting the precarious balance?

The Ministry of Fisheries last Saturday took media personnel on a tour of Maria Island and Point Sable in the south to show why biodiversity is important and the need to preserve what we have.

Coming out of this tour was basically how can the media get and hold the attention of the general public to the importance of conserving St. Lucia’s environmental and cultural resources from harm, loss, change or decay.

Questions on how can the people prevent government from creating activities that would destroy the biodiversity of the country, or change the thinking of the power pushers of the country to include in their development plans for the preservation of the island’s biodiversity were the focal point of discussion on the tour.

Questions on the role the media can play to make environmental articles appealing to the general public were also entertained.

However, at the end it was understood that biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, have an important role to play.

For example, a larger number of plant species means a greater variety of crops; greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms; and healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters.

Getting the entire country to understand that is the task the media face.

img: Sea eggs is a species of sea urchins found in the waters off Saint Lucia. They are protected under our laws and should not be harvested. However on Scorpion Island in Point Sable the group came upon several of their shells recently broken, evidence that Saint Lucians are really not paying attention to the warnings and precautions coming from the Fisheries Department and the National Trust to conserve our ecosystem.
Sea eggs is a species of sea urchins found in the waters off Saint Lucia. They are protected under our laws and should not be harvested. However on Scorpion Island in Point Sable the group came upon several of their shells recently broken, evidence that Saint Lucians are really not paying attention to the warnings and precautions coming from the Fisheries Department and the National Trust to conserve our ecosystem.
img: Maria Island, which was declared a Nature Reserve in 1982 by the Government of Saint Lucia has over 80 plant species. The island is about a half mile from the south east coast of Saint Lucia and surprisingly has never seen a rat. However this has not prevented the caretakers of the island from installing what is called ‘Rat Trap Stations’ on the island. There are 12 of them. This is what it looks like.
Maria Island, which was declared a Nature Reserve in 1982 by the Government of Saint Lucia has over 80 plant species. The island is about a half mile from the south east coast of Saint Lucia and surprisingly has never seen a rat. However this has not prevented the caretakers of the island from installing what is called ‘Rat Trap Stations’ on the island. There are 12 of them. This is what it looks like.
Micah George is an established name in the journalism landscape in St. Lucia. He started his journalism tutelage under the critical eye of the Star Newspaper Publisher and well known journalist, Rick Wayne, as a freelancer. A few months later he moved to the Voice Newspaper under the guidance of the paper’s recognized editor, Guy Ellis in 1988.

Since then he has remained with the Voice Newspaper, progressing from a cub reporter covering court cases and the police to a senior journalist with a focus on parliamentary issues, government and politics. Read full bio...

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