The Pitons Management Area (PMA) celebrates its 18th anniversary as a World Heritage Site on June 30, 2022, with the theme “The Pitons Management Area – Protecting Our Property for Our Prosperity and Posterity!”
The FMZ, located southwest of Saint Lucia, is a multiple-use conservation and management area of 1,134 hectares of land and 875 hectares of sea, respectively, totaling 2,909 hectares. It includes the majestic Pitons, the Sulfur Springs and a great diversity of marine and terrestrial flora and fauna. The government of Saint Lucia has become a signatory to the World Heritage Convention.
October 14, 1991. Subsequently, the MPA became a World Heritage Site on June 30, 2004 under criteria vii and viii of the UNESCO World Heritage Center Operational Guidelines, which present specific criteria for the inscription of properties on the World Heritage List. Additionally, the ZGP was declared an Environmental Protected Area in 2003 and a Special Law Enforcement Area in 2011.
The PMA office is responsible for the management of our World Heritage site. Established in 2006, the Authority’s vision is “to achieve a well-managed area in which natural and cultural assets and landscape quality are protected through a participatory management approach guided by the principles of sustainability, equity and of participation and in which benefits are generated for individuals, the community and the state”. Key areas of interest include conservation of natural, cultural and historic resources, landscape management, monitoring and reporting, public education and awareness, research, monitoring and enforcement, as well as marketing and promotion.
To commemorate this momentous occasion, the PMA office has planned a series of activities for June 27-30, 2022, including a jingle contest, open houses, panel discussion and radio interviews, messages from public interest and the launch of the PMA Did You Know series. The main purpose of these events is to create awareness and deep appreciation for assisted reproduction.
The Government of Saint Lucia remains committed to maintaining the Outstanding Universal Value of the Pitons Management Area. The government continues to work with all stakeholders, including the Soufriere Marine Management Agency (SMMA) and the Soufriere Regional Development Foundation
(SRDF), to ensure that it remains in line with the obligations of the World Heritage Committee. Ongoing initiatives include plans to demarcate and demarcate the boundaries of the FMZ, the integration of disaster risk reduction into the management plan for the FMZ, reforestation using the endemic pencil cedar and the elimination of the invasive plant species, the Wandering Jew, on the Gros Piton nature trail.
It is important to remember that the management area of the Pitons belongs not only to the people of Soufriere, but to the people of Saint Lucia and the rest of the world. Let us each continue to faithfully play our role in protecting our natural and cultural heritage, not only for ourselves but also for our children.
Comments are closed.