Does Nature have a price?

We must put a price on nature if we are going to save it! The North East Iyanola is a laboratory for Ecosystem Service Valuation.

The North East Coast of Saint Lucia is an isolated pristine coastal area, a remaining boundary with a mixture of rare and endemic flora and marine fauna species, landscapes of outstanding natural beauty and quality, ecosystems rich in biodiversity and unique dry scrub forests in Saint Lucia. Dangerously adjacent to world famous tourism site, Pigeon Island & Castries, the Iyanola region is threatened by unsustainable pattern of tourism development and urban sprawl. The Global Environment Fund (GEF) launched a project to ensure the effective management and sustainable use of the natural resource base of the Coast.

The NE Iyanola Project promotes the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the maintenance of ecosystem goods and services in representation of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and threatened species.

Map showing the Key Ecosystem species from the Iyanola region in the Island of St. Lucia

OIKO mobilized a team of professionals to work with the Department of Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Forestry to conduct a biodiversity mapping of the 4 main ecosystems. Followed by an Ecosystem Services Valuation exercise providing a comprehensive analysis on the economic value of natural resources within each of the uniquely biodiverse regions on the NE Iyanola of Saint Lucia. This work helped to establish the value of potential and realised services in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. In conjunction with local partners, we developed tailored economic / ecological scenarios using Driver Pressure State Response Monitoring (DPSRM) methodology to enhance the capacity of local leadership to undertake environmental considerations within their own land development and decision-making processes.