SVG Conservation Fund hands over water quality testing supplies to two agencies

The National Parks Rivers and Beaches Authority and the Fisheries Services Laboratory of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) earlier this month received a donation of water quality testing supplies.

According to a release, the donation made by the St Vincent and the Grenadines Conservation Fund (SVGCF), was handed over on December 17, at the Fisheries Services lab and is a response to the national volcano recovery efforts following the volcanic eruptions in April.

This intervention was made possible through donations to the SVGCF from the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund-(BPAF) in the amount of US $2,500, and a private donor (the Apatu family) in the amount of EC$2,070.

The SVGCF and BAF are part of a network of National Conservation Trust Funds (NCTFs) in the region which form the Caribbean Sustainable Finance Architecture in partnership with the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF). All NCTF’s have the similar mandate of providing long-term sustainable finance for their respective national biodiversity and natural resources management priorities, including sustainable livelihoods.

On Friday, July 9, 2021, the SVGCF also handed over some Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), to the National Parks, Rivers and Beaches Authority and the Forestry Services of SVG. This was made possible through a donation from the St Lucia National Conservation Fund-(SLUNCF), in the amount of EC$10,000 to the SVGCF, for the specific purpose procuring and distributing PPE equipment on behalf of the SLUNCF to support key government agencies as they undertake ongoing cleanup and rehabilitation work across SVG.

The SVGCF will further assist these key government agencies with recovery efforts across the state through a Volcano Recovery Grant. This grant will provide funding in the amount of US$180,000. to be used among the three agencies for the purpose of supporting rehabilitation through the national and local ecosystem assessments and other conservation efforts that meet the SVGCF objectives following the April 2021 eruption of La Soufriere Volcano.