Grand Anse Beach in Des Barras, St. Lucia, threatened by sand mining and home of the third largest nesting ground for endangered leatherback turtles; and Fond D'Or Nature and Historic Park housing ruins of three sugar manufacturing technologies.
Fond D’Or Natureand Historic Park is l ocated in the heart of the Mabouya Valley on the east coast of St. Lucia. This nature site includes traces of Amerindian settlement, historic sugar plantation buildings, hiking trails, mangroves, estuarine forest and a wide white sand beach. It is the only site in St. Lucia with remnants of all three types of mills used in sugar production—cattle mills (2) on premises, wind mill and steam mill. Two rock formations in the ocean hold special, mythical interest for the community, as does the nearby mountain La Sorciere. La Sorciere is considered mystical since and Carib shamans took offerings to placate the god there.
Grand Anse Beach in Des Barras is a white sand beach where leatherback turtles, the largest marine turtle in the world, come ashore to lay their eggs. Because they cannot be disturbed during the egg laying process, youth guides are employed to patrol the beach at night to ensure the safety of nesting turtles. There is also a program designed to create public awareness and active involvement in turtle conservation. In addition to conducting tours, the guides also collect data for the Department of Fisheries.
These two communities present a unique opportunity to improve the interventions in community based tourism as well as to provide the capacity of the youth to earn a living from their community in a sustainable manner. The objective of the project is to generate the economic earning capacity of the youth who participate, giving them the tools to detect tourism business potential from activities within their community.
