St Lucia - BirdLife International

1. INTRODUCTION
Waterbird Conservation for the Americas
Conservación de las Aves Acuáticas para las Américas
The island of St. Lucia lies within the archipelago of the Eastern Caribbean which stretches from
Puerto Rico in the north to Trinidad and Tobago in the south. It is grouped with the islands of
Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada to form the Windward Islands. In the
recent past the Windward Group joined with the Leeward Islands in an economic grouping called
OECS (Organization of Eastern Caribbean States). St. Lucia is 238 square miles (661sq. klms),
27 miles long and 14 miles wide.
The population of St. Lucia is estimated at 165,000 with Castries as capital, Gros Islet, Vieux
Fort and Soufriere being the most densely populated areas. The mainstay of St. Lucia economy is
agriculture, tourism and industry. The main crops grown are bananas, coconut and vegetables,
while root crops, mangoes and citrus are secondary crops. The main tourist areas are the North
from Castries to Gros Islet, Soufriere in the South West and Vieux Fort in the South. The main
ports of entry are Castries in the North and Vieux Fort in the South. Hewanorra Airport is the
main international airport located in Vieux-Fort and a smaller airport G.F.L. Charles Airport
located at Vigie in Castries.
St. Lucia is known as ‘The Helen of the West Indies’, a name it earned after 2 centuries of
bloody wars between Britain and France for possession of the island. St. Lucia exchanged hands
14 times between these two colonial powers of the past with Britain being the last colonist. The
Banana Industry had until recently enjoyed a secure market in Britain under the Lome 2
Agreement. However, with the advent of the European Union and the globalization of free trade,
protection of Caribbean bananas on the European market was challenged by some European
countries and the United States in particular. With increasing pressure from the United States
who has the ‘lions’ share of the world banana market, exporting Dollar Bananas from Latin
America, St. Lucia was forced to diversify its Agricultural Economy.
Tourism in St. Lucia for the past decades catered mainly for tourists who came to enjoy the
beach, sea and sun. In recent times, however, the tourism industry’s product began to diversify
and to offer more than just sea and sun by utilizing the beauty and adventure that St. Lucia’s
natural areas provide. This augers well with Cruise Tourism, as Cruise ship passengers only
spend a few hours on the island. As one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean if not the
world, St. Lucia is fast becoming a tourist destination. With no natural resources except its
people, fauna, flora, land and sea, tourism, especially ecotourism, is becoming the product of
choice. St. Lucia’s unspoilt natural beauty is a haven for the eco-tourist. Ecotourism in St. Lucia
is a multifaceted industry with a number of areas to satisfy the needs of the eco-tourist. These
areas include sightseeing, bird watching, and horseback riding in the out country, plantation
tours, forest tours (Rain forest, Dry forest, and Xerophytic forest), snorkelling, waterfall tours,
fishing, mountain climbing and special tours. A number of government agencies and private
organizations are involved in the tourism industry but there is no organized manpower planning
strategy for the ecotourism sector. The Ministries of Tourism, Agriculture and Education play a
big role in the development of the tourism product together with the St. Lucia Tourist Board, St.
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