Carriacou Island has some of Grenada’s largest mangrove ecosystems. The Lauriston Point mangrove ecosystem, which covers 143 acres, has provided wildlife habitat and protected the island’s small airport and a number of villages from erosion and storms. It supports a wide variety of tropical birds and includes nesting beaches for endangered hawksbill, green, and leatherback marine turtles.
But in July 2024, category-4 Hurricane Beryl hit Carriacou dead-on. It was the strongest hurricane known to have ever hit Grenada, with winds of 150 mph. “In half an hour, Carriacou was flattened,” said the country’s prime minister. In addition to wrecking hundreds of structures, the storm destroyed 95% of the island’s mangroves, leaving mostly young plants.
This project, led by the Kipaji Development Initiative, will address the urgent need for cleanup and restoration of this important habitat. Kipaji will clear huge amounts of storm debris and plant seedlings of red and white mangroves, sea grapes, almond, neem, palms, and others. Kipaji has experience in mangrove replanting and will employ local people who were trained for a 2022 mangrove planting project.
Kipaji and other community partners will monitor the beach daily during turtle nesting season, March to September, and share the information it collects on turtle numbers with the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network, which advocates for turtle protection. Bird monitoring will be done a few times a year and the results shared with BirdsCaribbean. These citizen science efforts provide useful information for conservation organizations and strengthen the sense of stewardship among island residents.
Grant funds will be used to remove storm debris from planting areas and to collect, transport, and store mature seeds and seedlings from the mainland (there are currently no donor sites on Carriacou). Funds will also go toward storage and care of seeds during propagation, and monitoring of the planting area to replace non-viable plants. The area lies within the Sandy Island Oyster Bed Marine Protected Area, which bodes well for its long-term recovery.
Kipaji is committing to patrol, replant, and maintain the ecosystem for the next 10 years. However, they have worked on conservation at Lauriston Point for years and expect to stay involved even longer.
