Barbados has taken its first concrete steps towards establishing regulated conservation areas and a national forest, with work now underway at two ecologically significant sites in St Andrew — Turners Hall Woods and Long Pond on the East Coast — funded by nearly $184 000 in environmental grants, Barbados TODAY can reveal exclusively.
These two projects, which have been financed by grants from the Barbados Environmental Sustainability Fund (BESF), are being executed by The Land Conservancy Barbados, said Professor Robin Mahon, who chairs the local branch of the global conservation charity.
He said: “We need to get on and do what we have been funded to do. I am not going to be going for any more funding from them, until I finish with the funding I already have. It’s a two-year project, and it started on March 1, so we are at the very beginning. We are looking to recruit a coordinator, engage with the community, and engage with government departments.
“The objective of the project is to establish a conservation area at Long Pond, according to the Physical Development Plan and a national forest at Turners Hall Woods; again, according to the Physical Development Plan. Both of those, and many other sites have been earmarked for the establishment for 25 years, because we don’t have any yet. So, we thought we would start with those two, and see if we can make any progress.”
The pathway leading to the forest at Turners Hall, St Andrew(Contributed photo)
Turners Hall Woodss, a 50-acre site, the island’s sole remaining patch of rainforest not cleared by 400 years of settlement and colonisation, contains magnificent examples of the sandbox, silk cotton, fustic, cabbage palm, trumpet tree, locust and macaw palm, which is indigenous to Barbados.
Long Pond is a coastal lagoon that is fed by the Bruce Vale and Walkers Rivers, respectively the second and third largest watersheds on the island.
The area has several significant and unique habitats, such as a sand dune system, mangroves, a marshy wooded area and the pond itself. It is bordered by Walker’s Reserve to the north, Belleplaine to the west and by private lands to the south.
Most of the funding for the projects will go to the coordinator, in addition to a great deal of community work that is to be done, said Professor Mahon, a marine biologist and emeritus professor of the UWI Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES),
“It is to be community-based,” he explained. “We want to establish community groups to run the conservation area and the national forest site. And, there is land ownership to be looked at, and plans. The end of the project will be the submission of an outline development plan, to the Planning and Development Department…one each of the two sites.”
The budget for Long Pond is about $108 000 while that for Turners Hall Woods is estimated at $76 000.
“We always need more money,” Professor Mahon stressed. “We are going to do the best we can with what we have got; but we are also seeking additional donors. Community-based work takes a lot of time and trouble … and you spend a lot of time chasing down people and holding meetings and that kind of thing.”
Having disbursed more than $1.2m to eight projects last year during its first cycle of grant awards, with millions more invested in marine spatial planning and sustainability initiatives, the Barbados Environmental Sustainability Fund is now undertaking its second cycle, seeking proposals only from organisations registered and operating in Barbados.
Grant funding of up to $300 000 is now available for projects focused on environmental conservation, climate resilience and sustainable development.
The money is being offered at three levels: small grants of up to $50 000, medium grants of $50 001–$100 000 and large grants of $100 001–$300 000.
The projects must demonstrate scalability, sustainability and measurable impact if they are to stand a chance of receiving the grants, according to the BESF.
“Eligible applicants must [be] registered and operating in Barbados; non-profit organisations; community-based organisations; government agencies; academic institutions, and private sector entities,” the fund said, adding that entities had until March 26 to take advantage of the grants.
The BESF is a conservation trust fund dedicated to supporting environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation in Barbados. Established in 2022, the fund operates as a grant-making organisation that mobilises financial resources to support impactful environmental projects.
The foundation was created through a Conservation Funding Agreement (CFA) between the government and The Nature Conservancy, reflecting a strategic partnership to safeguard the island’s natural heritage.
(EJ)
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