Four men were honored for their combined 123 years of service to the Forestry Department at an awards ceremony. Twenty participants in an entrepreneurship training program graduated, having gained skills to help their broom and mauby production cooperative. The Forestry Department met with 26 pig hunters to begin developing a plan to eradicate feral pigs that are damaging forests and farms.

1. DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY SEPT/OCT 09
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION UNIT BULLETIN
What’s been going on ?
Phone: 468-5648/5
E-mail your suggestions/ ideas to:
eeunit@gmail.com
Done by: Nicole La Force
Men of the Hour !!
Four wonderfully, dedicated men were honored for their long years
of invaluable service to the Forestry Department on the 10th of
September. The delightful awards ceremony was held at the CSA
Centre and was the first of its kind.
From left to right stands Mr. Joseph Hilaire, Mr. Ananias Verneuil, Mr.
Donald Anthony and Mr. Peter Vidal; whose combined service to
the department is that of 123 years.
In attendance to pay homage to these fine retirees were most of the forestry staff from the chief,
deputy chief, assistant chief , forest officers and forest workers from the various ranges. Also present
from the Ministry of Agriculture were the deputy permanent secretary Mr. Danley Auguste, Ms. Griffith
of the Accounts Department and Ms. Carasco the assistant secretary.
Though these fine gentlemen all look forward to their retirement, this does not mean that they will be
idle, as each is already involved in personal ongoing projects. Retirement just affords them more time
to attend to these.
They will be missed and this much was expressed by various staff but they have assured us that they
will be available should we need any consultations. May those of us who remain emulate the joy
and passion with which they carried out their duties.
We wish them success and God speed. Cheers to the men of the hour !!
H o o r a y !!
On the evening of September 24th the Entrepreneurial / Small Business Develop-
ment and capacity Building Training Programme facilitated by IICA, the EU and the
Ministry of Agriculture culminated with a graduation ceremony at the Fox Grove
Inn . Twenty participants of the La Pointe community of Mon Repos were thrilled to
receive their certificates. These participants are also members of the Superior
Brooms and Mauby Production Co-op. They were pleased that finally some due
attention was being paid to them. Thanks was especially expressed to Dr. Curt
Delice (IICA Agribusiness Specialist), Mr. Martin Weeks (workshop facilitator)
and Ms. Brenda Wilson (Community Development Officer) for their tireless ef-
forts in seeing this training come to fruition.
Forestry’s Department ACFO Lyndon John was on hand to congratulate and
encourage the participants on a job well done being that there exist a long
standing association between the Forestry Department and the Latanye and
Mauby farmers of the La Pointe community. Congratulations !!

2. DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY SEPT/OCT 09
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION UNIT BULLETIN
What’s been going on ?
Phone: 468-5648/5
E-mail your suggestions/ ideas to:
eeunit@gmail.com
Done by: Nicole La Force.
Are you aware that
there are lots of
feral pigs in our for-
est reserves here in
St. Lucia. Feral pigs
you say ? Yes wild
pigs which are causing quite a stir with
the damage they do to our forest.
• Pollute our water ways (rivers).
• Digging up and eating sapling
roots.
• Destroying soil structure.
• Killing other fauna forest species.
• Destroying farmers’ crops near the
forest boundaries.
For this and other reasons the Forestry
Department, particularly the Wildlife
Unit held a conference in September
with more than 26 pig hunters from
around St. Lucia.
The main aim of this conference was to
begin the development of a strategic
eradication plan of these pigs.
A lot was learnt from these candid talks;
from hunting methods (traps , dogs and
guns primarily), to the mapping out of
the extensive areas where these feral
pigs tread.
These pig hunters are eager to assist as
this is all fun and sport for them. Some
boasted of catching as many as 14
wild pigs on a single hunt.
Many issues are left to be ironed out,
such as; should there be a hunting sea-
son, should there be complete eradica-
tion or their population maintained at a
minimal threshold where hunters can
continue
having their fun and sport.
This is just the beginning and
many more meetings will be held.
Thus far the pig hunters have pro-
vided valuable information.
Although they say that pig meat is
sweet, that may be so but not the
damage they do.
We’ll keep you updated !!
Pigs ! Pigs ! Everywhere !
Since 1981, World Food Day celebrated every
16th October has adopted a different theme each
year, in order to highlight areas needed for action
and provide a common focus.
This year’s theme was an extremely serious one
and we as a small island nation should not take its
import for granted.
Millions of people around the world don’t have
access to clean drinking water or a balanced
healthy meal.
Achieving Food Security
in Time of Crisis
Here in St. Lucia we seem to be faring
well. However, with accumulative problems
such as climate change, desertification, eco-
nomic recession and don’t forget our pro-
pensity to import we should be wary, our
good fortune will not hold out forever.
We should take seriously the drive to grow
more of our own food and eat what we
grow. Every home should try to have a
backyard garden, no matter how small. Use
can be made of recycled materials like old
tires, bathtubs, jerry cans etc.
To think that with a simple act like that you
would be protecting the environment, cut-
ting down on the import bill ,eating health-
ier organically grown food, exercising and
don’t forget the pleasure in the leisure of it.
Secure ourselves today and avoid the fear of
hunger and starvation tomorrow !
Observance of the day, with a week of activi-
ties climaxing with a food fair and exhibition at
the Derek Walcott Square was enjoyed by
many.
EE-Unit staff of the Forestry Department was
present to educate the public on many of our
local herbs and our seeds used in cooking and
handicrafts.
All in all the activities were a success and we
will continue to improve.

3. DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY SEPT/OCT 09
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION UNIT BULLETIN
What’s been going on ?
Phone: 468-5648/5
E-mail your suggestions/ ideas to:
eeunit@gmail.com
Done by: Nicole La Force.
National Forest Demarcation and Bio-Physical Resource Inventory Project:
Preliminary Findings
Forest Reptiles and
Amphibians
The preliminary findings from the re-
search of Dr. Jenny Daltry and her team
are as follows:
♦ 28 species of lizards, snakes and
frogs have been recorded in Saint Lu-
cia’s forests.
♦ At least 7 species occur only in Saint Lucia (nationally
endemic).
♦ 9 alien species have been introduced.
♦ 6 species (3 native) are extinct .
♦ The most abundant and widespread native species are
Saint Lucia Anole (Anolis luciae) & Johnstone’s Whistling
Frog (Eleutherodactylus johnstonei).
♦ High quality (mature, intact) forests support more native
species.
♦ Degraded forests contain more alien invasive species.
♦ Many of the native species are threatened with extinction
and Alien invasive species are their greatest threat .
♦ The worst alien invasive species are the :
♦ It is recommended that we:
1. Educate everyone!!
2. Secure and Conserve mesic forest.
3. Update Wildlife Protection Act..
4. Control invasive species.
5. Conduct applied research to guide
and monitor management of wildlife
New Vegetation Classification
The research of botanist Roger Graveson
has yielded the preliminary:
Whistling Frog
Saint Lucia Anole
Cane toad Green Iguana.
&
Photos : Courtesy of Roger Graveson & Forestry Department
Major Categories include:
♣ Natural Forest, Non-
natural or Plantation
Forest and Non - Forest.
♣ Natural Forest includes:
• Littoral Evergreen Forest and
Shrubland
• Semi-evergreen Seasonal For-
est
• Mangrove
• Lower Montane Rainforest
• Freshwater Swamp Forest
• Montane Rainforest
• Rainforest Deciduous Sea-
sonal Forest
• Cloud Montane Rainforest
♣ Plantation or Non-natural
Forest
♣ Non– Forest includes:
• Elfin Shrub lands
• Herbaceous Swamp (seasonal
or permanent)
• Aquatic Herbaceous Vegeta-
tion.
• Littoral Rock and Cliff Vegeta-
tion.
• Littoral Unconsolidated Sand
Vegetation.
• Littoral Scrub, including Cacti
• Fumarole Vegetation
• Grassland, with or without a
few trees or shrubs.