Celebrating Biodiversity Day in Saint Lucia

Activities carried out in Saint Lucia in honor of the International Day for Biological Diversity

Newspaper articles were carried in the oldest paper in the nation, “The Voice Of Saint Lucia,” in their Talking Sustainable Development column, highlighting biodiversity in the dry lands for two consecutive weeks. One focused on biodiversity in the dry lands in general and was entitled ”Saving the drylands for our sustainable development” by a forest officer and the other, by the Fisheries Depqrtment, focused on conserving sea turtles that nest in the coastal zone where the dry lands can be found.

Press releases were sent to all the media houses highlighting the importance of the theme for the day “Protecting Biodiversity in the drylands” and this included a sound byte on the theme in English and French creole, from the biodiversity coordinator on the national radio station, Radio Saint Lucia.

Lectures are being delivered to schools this week and a tree planting ceremony will be carried out at one of the rural schools.

Two televised programs were broadcast. One called “Issues and Answers” that lasted thirty minutes and was composed of the Biodiversity Coordinator and the Chief Forestry Officer being interviewed by a moderator from the Government Information Service (GIS). The other was a patois or French creole speaking program “Konsit Keywol” hosted by another moderator from the GIS, where two forest officers were interviewed, who are very knowledgeable about the work being done to conserve the biodiversity of the dry forest of Saint Lucia. Both programs focused on the theme for the celebration of the day.

A radio programs was held on National radio “Radio Saint Lucia” called Constitution Park in the French creole language and two foresters focused on the theme for the day. Another radio program “:Agriculture Today” carried an interview with the biodiversity coordinator, focusing on the theme.

This last weekend, a Biodiversity Quiz was featured in the weekly youth magazine “YO” carried by the oldest newspaper on the island, in their weekend issue, focusing on the biodiversity of the dry forests. Prizes for the first three persons submitting all the answers correct, will be biodiversity memorabilia.

Three new Public Service Announcements, one each on protecting different species found in the dry forests and its related areas, namely the Saint Lucia iguana, the leather back turtle and the white breasted thrasher, will commence on national television this week.