With income reduced to almost zero, National Trust Launches Crowdfunding Account to Support its Heritage Work

For almost 45 years the Saint Lucia National Trust (SLNT) has protected and advocated for the conservation and sustainable management of Saint Lucia’s natural and built heritage. Now, like many organisations worldwide, we are threatened by the impact of COVID-19 which has caused a virtual closure of our tourism sector. The SLNT had to close all our main revenue generating sites, reducing our income to almost zero and ceasing routine maintenance of some sites. We reopened on July 4, 2020 but few visitors have come due to restrictions still in place to curb the spread of the virus.

The SLNT is mandated to protect Saint Lucia’s patrimony. Revenue from the Pigeon Island National Landmark, our flagship site, is our main source of income, which helps us to preserve other historic sites, landscapes and off shore islets with their flora and fauna, some of which are endemic species. With the removal of the Government subvention in 2017 and responses to COVID-19 we face uncertainty for both our conservation work and our dedicated staff. Considering this we call on all Saint Lucians both home and abroad who are able to support our recently launched online fundraising campaign to do so and to help us to spread the word.

The link can be accessed at https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/support-heritage-in-saint-lucia/. All funds raised will go towards continuing our conservation work, such as the maintenance of built sites like Walcott House Museum, Married Women’s Quarters and the Morne Fortune Historic Site, and natural sites which ensure the protection of wildlife like turtles, the world’s rarest known snake – Saint Lucia racer and the Saint Lucia whiptail among others.

According to SLNT’s Director, Bishnu Tulsie, “We are grateful to the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund and German Government for funding our recently launched Ecosystems-based Adaptation Project which integrates a people centered approach to dealing with enhancing climate resilience of targeted ecosystems within the Pointe Sable Environmental Protection Area and the Pigeon Island National Landmark by strengthening the coastlines and improving the management and health of coastal ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs. Now we call on all Saint Lucians, especially the private sector to support our work as we continue to protect our heritage assets for present and future generations”. Check out this link for a write up and video of some of the projects we have done over the years: https://slunatrust.org/news/snapshot-of-the-trusts-accomplishments/

The SLNT eagerly awaits the passing of this pandemic, so we can welcome hundreds of visitors to our facilities and fully resume managing Saint Lucia’s rich heritage for the benefit of locals and visitors. We are in the process of diversifying our product and service offering to become more sustainable, even in the event of another crisis. We thank you in advance for your assistance and sincerely hope you and your families keep safe. Please follow us on social media, like and share our posts as we strive to raise awareness about the importance of managing our shared heritage. Facebook: Saint Lucia National Trust; Instagram: saint_lucia_national_trust and Twitter: NationalTrustLC.

We thank the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO) for their support with this fundraising drive.