From Sea to Sustainability

A new initiative in Savannes Bay is bringing conservation and livelihoods together to support a healthier coast and a more sustainable future for seamoss farming.

Along the coast of Savannes Bay, seamoss farming is more than an activity taking place at sea. For those involved, it represents a source of livelihood, an opportunity for enterprise and a connection to a marine environment on which communities depend.

But sustaining those livelihoods also means sustaining the ecosystems that support them.

That connection is at the centre of an initiative now underway through the Saint Lucia National Conservation Fund (SLUNCF) and the Department of Fisheries, focused on improving the environmental sustainability of seamoss farming in the Savannes Bay area.

Supported with approximately EC$215,000 (US$80,000) in financing, the project brings together conservation, fisheries management and community livelihoods at a time when the area continues to contend with abandoned farming structures and marine debris, including material left behind following Hurricane Beryl.

Cleaning Up. Building Better.

A key component of the initiative involves the removal of abandoned seamoss farming structures and other marine debris from areas including Savannes Bay, Boriel Beach and Bois Chadon.

But removing what has been left behind is only one part of the journey.

The project also provides an opportunity to promote more sustainable approaches to seamoss cultivation and strengthen practices that can support both the people who depend on the industry and the marine environment in which it operates.

This is where the project's larger story begins to emerge.

Healthy coastal ecosystems and sustainable livelihoods are not competing priorities. For communities whose economic opportunities depend directly on natural resources, the two are deeply connected.

Protecting the environment in which seamoss is cultivated helps protect the conditions necessary for the activity itself to continue.

Partnership in Action

The project is being implemented by the Department of Fisheries, with financing channelled through SLUNCF under the Caribbean Regional Architecture for Biodiversity (CRAB) programme, supported by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) through the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF).

The partnership demonstrates one of the ways conservation financing can help move environmental priorities from intention to action, connecting financial resources with technical expertise, government agencies and the communities closest to the resource.

And the work is now moving forward.

As activities progress, attention will turn not only to what is removed from the marine environment, but also to what can be built in its place: better practices, greater awareness, stronger collaboration and a more sustainable approach to seamoss farming.

For SLUNCF, this is a story that will continue to unfold.

Over the coming months, the Fund will follow the work taking place along the coast, the experiences of those involved and the changes emerging as the project moves through implementation.

Because the future of seamoss farming in Savannes Bay is about more than what can be harvested from the sea.

It is also about how we care for the sea that makes those livelihoods possible.

FOLLOW THE JOURNEY →

The work has begun. Follow SLUNCF as the Savannes Bay initiative moves from clean-up and engagement towards more sustainable seamoss farming practices and healthier coastal ecosystems.