A trip to the Caribbean wonder of Saint Lucia will take you to an island of unmatchable beauty – you’ll find pristine beaches, mountains boasting exuberant greenery, exotic flora and fauna. Moreover, when you are in a place like this, you might be more aware of what can be lost if we don’t work hard enough to preserve the environment.
This might be the concept behind the Our Planet Centre – an attraction which allows you to discover the natural marvels of Saint Lucia and is focused on raising environmental awareness.
At the Centre you can walk through the Immersion Tunnel – a kind of time machine that will show you how our planet and its climate began – view Earth from the space on a sphere installed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA, or even experience extreme weather events in a special effects theatre. The Centre also offers bus and Land Rover rides through the rain forest and guided walks into the jungle.
One thing is sure, you won’t be short of things to do and see at the Our Planet Centre. Moreover, if you are concerned about the world we live in, you’ll be glad to know that all their profits go towards funding local environmental initiatives.
But what are those initiatives? Well, a very powerful project is one focusing on producing fuel from waste bananas. The Banana Ethanol Project provides extra income for the farmers who collect the waste and it will potentially replace 15 per cent of Saint Lucia’s petrol imports, which means that they would use a more environmentally friendly fuel.
After learning how they go bananas about fuel, what else are they up to? The short answer is iguanas. Green, when young and grey and black when adults, the Saint Lucian iguana is a rare specimen in danger of extinction. Conservation programmes for the animals involve working with local people to eliminate predators such as rats and mongooses (which, for those wondering, is the correct plural for mongoose).
There are other species native to Saint Lucia included on the red list of endangerment, like the Antillean fruit bat, the racer snake, the nightjar and the pygmy gecko. The good news is that you can adopt one of these animals. Your money will enable the Our Planet Centre to keep them free and protected, which will help the population to grow naturally.
Our Planet will be also working with local partners to develop programmes raising awareness about litter and recycling, which is one of the problems Saint Lucians are most concerned about.
And last but no least, Our Planet will be working with local partners to reduce the impact of climate change through increasing the health of the local ecosystem. This is a very serious threat to the island because of its low-lying position and high exposure to severe weather.
If you are thinking about visiting this unique centre why not to book a holiday to Saint Lucia with Kenwood Travel?
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