St. Lucia is the country where it all began for us! We have been working on the island since 2004, and we continue to do most of our overseas work here.  Below you can see some of our current and past projects.

CURRENT PROJECTS:

RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION
In recent years, piggeries have been sprouting up in Mabouya Valley, and we all know that where there are pigs, there is a lot of pig waste!  For some farmers, the easiest way to get rid of the pig waste was to simply wash it into the river, which of course causes nutrient overloads and plenty of fecal bacteria issues downstream.  So, to curtail this, we have installed biogas digesters which collect the poo and then harvest the methane gas from it. This methane gas can then be used for cooking, or as we are working on, generating electricity.   This provides an economic incentive for farmers to protect their water quality!

Partners:
•Trust for Management of  Rivers
•University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Engineering Department
•Mabouya Valley
• Integrating Watershed and Coastal Area Management: IWCAM (UN Program)
• National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

CONSTRUCTIVE WETLAND INSTALLATION
A constructed wetland treats septic waste by removing organic waste before it is discharged into the environment. The whole island of St. Lucia runs on septic tanks, and some of them aren’t maintained so well, which leads to all sorts of water pollution problems.  So, for this project, we installed constructive wetlands in the Au Leon Community.
Partners:
• Trust for Management of Rivers
• University of Vermont School of Engineering

COMMUNITY AWARENESS BUILDING THROUGH YOUTH GROUPS 
Every year at Rainforest Camp, we make sure that the kids get together to make a plan for ways that they can help improve their communities.  Some of the groups already do amazing work and are very active, but we want to make sure that the groups are getting the kind of support that they need to thrive! Maria will be living in St. Lucia for a year and will be there to help the kids by providing guidance and finding funding for larger projects. We will also have an additional advisory board with an adult leader for every community, and from many local environmental groups around island.
Partners:
• CARILEC
• St. Lucia Forestry Department
• LUCILEC

WATER QUALITY TESTING TO ESTABLISH STANDARDS 
The Marigot Village Watershed Team has been testing the water quality all around Marigot Bay to create a hot spot assessment of problems found.   These results have been verified by the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) and will be presented to the Marigot Bay Business Association Members and the Government of St. Lucia so that these problem areas can be addressed.
Partners:
• St. Lucia Sustainable Development Unit of the Environmental Ministry
• Marigot Bay Business Association

WATERSHED TRAINING SUMMER CAMP 2006-ONGOING
Every year, we host a Rainforest Camp for about 50 children.  The camp, which is free for St. Lucians, takes kids from different communities all over the island and teaches them about the ecology and beauty of their own island, and we brainstorm with the children to think of ways that we can protect the environment.  We are very proud to say that the various community groups have now formed environmental groups that make significant changes in their areas and educate their peers. Because each of the children learn how to do water quality tests while they are at camp, these groups have helped to  establish recreational water quality standards for St. Lucia.

Partners:
• Peace Corps
• CARILEC
• Area secondary schools
• St. Lucia Sustainable Development Unit of the Environmental Ministry
• St. Lucia Department of Forestry and Agriculture
• Mango Beach Inn
• NOAA

PAST PROJECTS:

LABORIE WASTEWATER STUDY (2005)
• Testing the effectiveness of the current wastewater system in Laborie.
Partners:
• Area schools
• Laborie Community Development Fund
• Peace Corps
• Balenbouche Estate

PILOT PROJECT– WATERSHED PROTECTION (2004)
The students in this project received a Biodiversity Award from the St. Lucia government in August 2005! They worked to reduce trash and erosion in their watershed and plan for more sustainable development. Their watershed also contains banana plantations, so they continue to learn about best practices in agriculture to minimize soil erosion and deterioration of the water quality by agricultural chemicals, monitored the water quality and planted trees to reduce erosion. They also received agricultural awards for their work! After spending many hours cleaning up trash along the stream banks and around the school, the students in initiated a Litter Patrol to help increase awareness throughout the school community about the problems of littering.
Partners:
• Ciceron Secondary school
• St. Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority
• LUCELEC
• Tennessee Valley Infrastructure Group