Project Plan
Rare Pride Campaign
La Borie, Hopevale & Morne Jaloux
Grenada
The Grenada Hook Billed Kite. Photo by Russell Thorstorm
Dean Jules
Grenada Department of Forestry
2005-2006
Rare Diploma in Conservation Education
University of Kent Canterbury, United Kingdom
Kent Cohort V
Contents
Chapter 1: Project Site Summary
Chapter 2: Stakeholder Matrix
Chapter 3: Initial Concept Model and Description......
Chapter 4: Questionnaire Survey
Chapter 5: The Flagship Species - The Grenada Hook Billed Kite
Chapter 6: Workplan
Monitoring Plan
References
Appendix 1: The Questionnaire Survey......
Chapater 1: Project Site Summary
Grenada:A General Overview
The nation of Grenada is located at the southern end of the Caribbean island chain. It is belongs to a subgroup of the Caribbean islands known as the Lesser Antilles and is composed of three main islands, Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique. At 312 km² Grenada, is the largest of the three main islands that make up this small nation.
Map courtesy of P.J. Rivera Lugo
Grenada is an island formed by fire. After its volcanic birth, the landscape was carved by water, which resulted in two distinct geographic regions. An interior region composed of rugged mountains, steep slopes and deep valleys, and a second region composed of the low-lying costal areas.
Mt. St. Catherine, the tallest and youngest peak, rises to 833 m. It and the other large volcanic mountains on the main island rise to form a north-south trending central ridge, which collectively help to generate local weather systems. Precipitation varies seasonally, with relatively dry periods from January until May and a wetter a season from June until December. Variations in precipitation are also affected by elevation, with the interior receiving more rainfall than the lower costal areas. Grenada also is influenced by weather systems brought by the “trade winds”, which are steady moisture laden winds from the east. The island is impacted by periodic hurricanes (see section F below) and was struck by a category four hurricane in September of 2004 and a second smaller hurricane in July of 2005. This combination of local weather and topography creates microclimates that can be influenced further by elevation, aspect, soils, and past land use. Humidity is high and temperature on the island averages 21-22 ° C with minimal diurnal or seasonal changes (Caribbean Conservation Association 1999).
Grenada’s Developing Conservation Policy: A legal framework in progress.
Recently the Forestry and National Parks Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of Grenada did something astounding. They stopped participating in the commercial harvest of timber and began to develop a new strategy for land management. One that is centered on the importance of forest resources; to human health and happiness and takes into account the opinions of local stakeholders in the process of resource management. In short they traded in their chainsaws and began to develop a policy that required them not to manage just Grenada’s natural resources but to coordinate, explain and facilitate a means of sustainable development for the natural resources of Grenada. This policy is focused on the importance of the forests as protectors of watersheds and clean drinking water. In the context of the new forest policies and particularly the importance of stakeholder interactions within that policy, one can find a readily accessible base from which to develop an environmental educational awareness program.
In 1999, the government of Grenada approved a National Forest Policy. A key component of the policy is the conservation of the country’s biodiversity. The policy in itself provides for inter alia, building capacity of Grenadian institutions to participate in the conservation and management of the country’s biodiversity, building awareness and appreciation of biodiversity and its importance, maintenance of representative samples of all forest ecosystems and the protection of all species which carry endemic and rarity importance. The Government is currently engaged in the preparation of a National Physical Development Plan.
In Grenada the management of biological diversity is under the jurisdiction of several governmental agencies each having a legal mandate for its area of responsibility, and guided by policy prescribed by the government. Occasionally closely related responsibilities may be shared among agencies by selected legal instruments such as regulations or orders.
To date, there are 40 separate pieces of legislation that govern the protection and management of Grenada’s biodiversity. These include forests, soil and water conservation, planning and development and use of lands; beach protection and control, management of fisheries, protection of marine reserves; protection of wildlife and habitats; control of pesticides, pollution and waste management.
The Government of Grenada signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in December 1992 and ratified the Convention in August 1994. The CBD was established as a legally binding instrument to secure commitments from Governments for the conservation of biological resources and to serve as a facilitator for their proposed activities through information sharing and technical and scientific guidance.
Conservation of biological resources served as a catalyst for the Government to prepare the Grenada Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (GBSAP). Additionally, an Environmental Charter is being prepared under the auspices of the OECS (Organization of Eastern Caribbean States).
Grenada’s Biodiversity
There are 450 species of flowering plants and 150 species of birds recorded for Grenada; two are endemic and endangered species of bird and four species of endemic plants. Floristically the endemics are the Grand Etang fern (Danaea sp.), the mountain Cabbage Palm (Oreodoxa oleracea), Police man’ (Rhythidophyllum carbaeum); Red gouti (Maytenus grenadensis) the endemic fauna is represented by Grenada Dove (Leptotila wellsi) the Grenada Hook-billed Kite (Chondrohierax uncinatus murus) both birds are considered endangered.Grenada is also home to four species of birds, which are endemic to the Lesser Antilles – the Grenada flycatcher (Myiarchus nugatory), the
Scaly – breasted thrasher
(Margarops fuscus), the Lesser Antillian bullfinch (Loxigilla noctis), and the Lesser Antillian tanager (Tangara cucullata). Grenada is unique in that there are no known extinctions of birds for the island and it is one of the few places in the Caribbean where a pre-colonial avifauna is still intact.
Beyond that, there is little documentation available on the composition and status of Grenada’s forests. Some research was conducted in the past on a few species of trees, but not much attention has been given to herbaceous and non-vascular plants.
Several species of mammals are recorded for Grenada of those the exotic Mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona) is the largest. There are four species of Opossum and eleven species of bats. One species of mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) and one species of Armadillo “tatou” has also been recorded (Groom 1970).
Species: / Status: / Habitat:Grenada Dove (Leptotila wellsi). / Endemic, Endangered. / Many different habitats
Grenada hook billed kite (Chondrohierax uncinatus murus). / Endangered. / Many different habitats
Euler’s fly catcher (Epidonax euleri johnstone). / Endangered. / DryForest, Dry Woodlands
Little blue heron (Florida caerulea). / Vulnerable / Sea coast and Mangrove swamp.
Scaley breasted thrasher(Eudocimus rubber). / Endangered, possibly extinct. / Dry Thorn scrub forest
Grenada flycatcher (Myiarchus nugator). / Endemic, Endangered / Dry Thorn scrub forest.
Social Aspects
The island of Grenada has a history of human occupation and disturbance that predates European colonization and at least three distinct cultures of indigenous peoples have occupied the island. The effects of these cultures on the environment are relatively unknown but these early settlers may have introduced the first exotic species to the island by bringing the manicou (Didelphis marsupialis insularis), tatou (Dasypus novencintcus hoplites) and the agouti (Dasyprocta liporina) as food resources (Groome 1970, Caribbean Conservation Association1991, Brizan 1984). Relics of these cultures are scattered throughout the islands in the form of rock carvings, midden mounds, and graves. The last of the indigenous Caribs jumped from cliffs at the northern part of the island to avoid enslavement by the Europeans (Brizan 1984).
There has, however, been an observable increase in environmental degradation, beginning with the arrival of European settlers and the extermination of the indigenous human populations (Brizan 1984). The earliest European settlers cultivated tobacco, indigo and livestock (Smith 1824), but with the arrival of sugar as an agricultural crop and the importation of slave labor from Africa, large areas of land were cleared in an effort to maximize economic gain. Lands not suitable for large-scale agriculture were used to produce food for the enslaved workforce. It is estimated that at least 95% of Grenada’s forests were cleared to produce plantation crops (Caribbean Conservation association 1991). The French and the British in their struggle for the possession of the island reflect Grenada’s value as an agricultural producer during the time of European colonization in the numerous forts that were built. Economic records from colonial periods indicate that Grenada was one of the most profitable colonial possessions in the Caribbean region. After the abolition of slavery, in 1834, Grenada began to evolve into a fragmented landscape of small farms and patches of degraded forested lands (Brizan 1984).
Grenada’s independence from Britain in 1974 and various forms of government since that time has added many political dimensions to this fragmentation process (Brizan 1984, Patterson 1996). It has also led to many property rights and land ownership issues and some lands are cultivated or inhabited with out legal claim.
Grenada is primarily an agricultural society and one of the largest producers of nutmeg in the world. Grenada is also in the process of recovery from two hurricanes that devastated the island in 2004 and 2005.
Threats to Biodiversity
The primary threats to biodiversity in Grenada are a combination of issues such as land use, fuel wood consumption, and water pollution (Bass 2000). See chapter 3 for summary of campaign stakeholders views on threats to biodiversity.
Hurricane Impact
The effect of “Natural Disasters” cannot be stressed too much, both in their potential to affect the target condition, but also in their ability to influence the role out my education campaign. In 2004 and 2005 Grenada was struck by two massive hurricanes that devastated the island’s infrastructure and its environment and left tens of thousands homeless and in despair. My own house was lost and the offices of my lead agency extensively damaged. As people slowly rebuild their lives, a process that is far from complete today (January 2006), we must bear this in mind as we visit fractured communities and try to reach out with educational materials and our conservation messages. The impact of these hurricanes was huge.
Reporting on the damage the World Bank in its report: Grenada, Hurricane Ivan Preliminary Assessment of Damages, September 17, 2004[1] writes:
“Hurricane Ivan struck Grenada with full force on September 7, 2004...The southern portion of Grenada was exposed to severe winds in excess of 135 mph…Hurricane Ivan affected the entire island of Grenada. The vase majority of the severe damage was experienced in the southern portion of the island below a line drawn roughly from Grenville to north of St. George’s”[2]. “Housing damage is extensive, particularly in the south. Estimates based on sample surveys suggest that over 90% of the housing stock has been destroyed or suffered some type of damage. Virtually 100% of the houses in the southern region of the island have suffered damages of one kind or another. Damages range from broken windows and water damage to the complete destruction of the structure. Estimates suggest that approximately 40% of the houses on Grenada are uninhabitable”.
Public infrastructure, in particular school buildings, also suffered major losses.
The World Bank report also notes: “The agriculture sector was particularly hard hit by Hurricane Ivan. Based on observations made during the over- flight, the current banana crop appears to be a 100% loss. Nutmeg and other spice production infrastructure is likely seriously affected. Nutmeg plantations in St. Andrews parish were devastated but farms located predominately in the northern portion of the island (e.g. St Patrick Parish) may have escaped with minimal losses”.
The report continues: “Damage to the natural features of Grenada was widespread. In Saint Andrew Parish, the Grand Etang Forest Reserve suffered extensive and severe damage. On inspection, an estimated 50% of the canopy trees are on the ground. The Remaining 50% have been stripped of virtually all their leaves and suffered significant bark limb damage. Forest understorey has also suffered severe damage. At higher elevations, along the ridges of MountHope and Mount St. Catherine, the damage was similarly severe with landslides emanating from the ridge tops”.
Damage to watersheds was of particular concern to the writers of the report due to the potential for increased erosion and flooding. Watershed damages would also likely affect the water supply, agricultural tourism and health sectors. Thirty-seven people died as a result of the storm.
If Ivan was not enough for Grenada, the island got hit again in 2005. What Ivan left behind, Hurricane Emily took away. Hurricane Emily, was a category 1 system with sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph), which impacted Grenada and its dependencies on Thursday, July 14th 2005, ten months after the passage of Hurricane Ivan, leaving another trail of damage.
In an Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Report, titled: Grenada: Macro-Socio-Economic Assessment of the Damage caused by Hurricane Emily July 14th, 2005[3], the authors note:
“It is estimated that Hurricane Emily affected some 38.1% of the overall population with an estimated 167 families rendered homeless. One death was recorded; this occurred as a result of injuries sustained when the male deceased’s house was destroyed by landslide. Most damage to crops was evidenced in the parishes of St. Andrew’s and St. Patrick’s, while most of the livestock lost were on Carriacou and Petit Martinique”.
The ten-month period between Ivan and Emily was not sufficiently long enough for the natural rehabilitation and recovery of watersheds. This in turn has resulted in heavy sedimentation of rivers, erosion and gullying of riverbanks, land slides, etc
The report concluded: “The damage also had important implications at the social level, firstly since it has affected some sectors that are labour intensive, in particular agriculture, but also because of the compounded psycho-social impact occasioned by hurricane Emily, coming as it did only ten months after the devastation caused by hurricane Ivan”.
More than a year after Emily many Grenadian remain traumatized, houses still without roofs and agriculture crippled. With this as a backdrop to the campaign, conducting research for the project was hard. It was decided that the campaign would focus on one area of the island. The target area being the villages of Mourne Jaloux, Hope Vale, La Borie and Saint Paul’s in the Parishes of DST. George’s and Saint David’s. This are was chosen as a pilot for what may hopefully become a broader project,, because the area has threats representative of the wider landscape (from dry forest to rainforest) and because of recent sightings of one of Grenada’s rarest birds – the Grenada Hook-billed Kite.
Picture: Hurricane Ivan, B. Steele
Chapter 2: Stakeholder Matrix
No / Stakeholder / Name / Key issue / Interest/Motive(What participant brings to meeting) / Potential Contribution (What the meeting can give the participant) / Consequences
Grenada Board of Tourism / Asquith Duncan / Generating Local economy through Tourism / Knowledge of economic factors and regional tourism interests / Marketing concepts an information for the ecotourism sector / Better understanding of the public’s views on tourism sector
Land Use Division / Michael Mason / Development of A GIS Data Base for inventory of Grenada’s natural resources / Technical knowledge of key geographic regions / Informational needs of stakeholders. / Develop a data base that helps to deliver conservation goals
FNPD / Imhotep Mawauto / Development of watershed management infrastructure / Expertise in watershed management / Public feed back on watershed issues / Development of a watershed policy based on stake holder interaction
Friends of the Earth / Joseph Antoine / NGO Can bring a perspective on Conservation not directed by Government policy / A local network of conservation minded members. / A better understanding of Grenada’s current conservation climate. / A stronger relationship between this organization and similar government agencies
Pest Management Unit / Thaddeus Peters / Expertise in issues that directly effect conservation such as exotic species management and disease control / Experience and knowledge / A broader understanding of pest species and public opinion / Collaborate with other institutions in management and disease control
Parliamentarian / Hon. Gregory Bowen / Expertise in policy development / Experience and knowledge / Increase knowledge on environmental issues / Initiate policy framework for conservation of Biological Diversity
Peregrine
Fund / Desmond Mc. Queen / Development of A GIS Data Base for inventory of Grenada’s natural resources / Experience and knowledge on data collection / Better understanding of the lack of conservation data / Develop a data base that helps to deliver conservation goals
Ministry of Education / Lloyd Panchoo / Development of environmental education curriculum / Experience and knowledge / Increase knowledge on environmental issues / Collaboration in development of environmental education programme
Agency for Rural Transformation / Sandra Ferguson / Expertise in community-based educational programme / Experience and knowledge on communities culture / Better understanding of community-based awareness campaign / Develop strategy for community-based awareness campaign
FNPD / Anthony Jeremiah / Development of A GIS Data Base for inventory of Grenada’s natural resources at FNPD / Technical knowledge of key geographic regions / Informational needs of stakeholders / Develop a data base that helps to deliver conservation goals of FNPD
Grenada Taxi Association / Cosmos Williams / Generating Local economy through Tourism / Knowledge of economic factors local and regional tourism interest / Marketing concepts an information for the ecotourism sector / Better understanding of the public’s views on tourism sector
Freelancer/Media / Linda Straker / Expertise in public awareness / Experience and knowledge / Better understanding on key conservation issues / Collaboration in environmental education programme
BIZREC / Wayne Hazzard / Expertise in community-based program / Knowledge in community related conservation issues / Opportunity to build capacity in natural resource management and environmental education awareness / Establish linkage between community and other institutions
BIZREC / Debra Mason / Expertise in community-based program especially Women’s groups / Knowledge in community related conservation issues / Opportunity to build capacity in natural resource management and environmental education awareness / Establish linkage between community and other institutions
FNPD / Augustus Thomas / Expertise in issues that directly effect conservation of natural resource / Experience and knowledge / Opportunity to build capacity in natural resource management / Strengthen partnership with non-government organizations
Business Owner / Raphael
Sylvester / Tourism opportunities / Economic benefits, environmental friendly accommodation / Support local event initiatives / Ensure project success in community, involvement in campaign activities
JECO
(NGO) / Valma
Jessamy / Expertise in issues that directly effect conservation of natural resource / Experience and knowledge / Opportunity to build capacity in natural resource management / Strengthen partnership with government and non-government organizations
FNPD / Michael Jessamy / Expertise in issues that directly effect conservation of natural heritage / Experience and knowledge / Opportunity to build capacity in heritage management / Strengthen partnership with government and non-government organizations
La Borie Development organization / Ralph Lord / Collaboration on community-based environmental programme / Knowledge on community history and environmental education / Opportunity to develop environmental education programme / Opportunity to strengthen linkage between government and community-based organizations “NGO’s”
La Borie Development organization / Daniel Walters / Collaboration on community-based environmental programme / Knowledge on community history and environmental education / Opportunity to develop environmental education programme / Opportunity to strengthen linkage between government and community-based organizations “NGO’s”
Villager(a Borie) / Carly Hypolite / Better understanding of natural resource / Knowledge on natural resource harvesting / Alternative in selective harvesting of forest products / Opportunity to establish co-management system
Farmer / Bernard Benoit / Better understanding of natural resource importance / Knowledge on natural resource harvesting / Alternative in selective harvesting of forest products / Opportunity to establish co-management system
Belle isle Community Group / VernonHouston / Collaboration on community-based environmental programme / Knowledge on community history and environmental education / Opportunity to develop environmental education programme / Opportunity to strengthen linkage between government and community-based organizations “NGO’s”
National Disaster Management Agency / Honest Richardson / Collaboration on community-based disaster management / Knowledge on community history and environmental education
Villager(a Borie) / Ian Brathwaite / Support in community-based environmental education programme / Knowledge on community history and environmental education / Opportunity to support community outreach activities / Ensure community participation, build knowledge, raise interest amongst community residents
Photos from the 1st and second stakeholder meeting: