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On September 4, 2019, the Saint Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority (SLSWMA), Saint Lucia Hospitality & Tourism Association (SLHTA), and Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) officially launched a joint campaign to reduce littering on the island.

Subsequently, in an effort to create sustained awareness against littering, informative bumpers stickers with the message “Garcon, you mad or what?” were created. The bumper stickers featured people tossing litter from their vehicles, a common practice on the island, and the catchy phrase denouncing that practice.

Over 1,000 bumper stickers were printed by the SLHTA and TEF and presented to the SLSWMA by Carl Hunter, Chairman of the SLHTA’s Environmental Committee.

After receiving word from the SLSWMA that the bumper stickers were receiving many positive responses from motorists who had placed them on their vehicles, a second batch of stickers with more colourful alterations were printed and presented to the SLSWMA.

The anti-litter campaign was the follow-up to an annual internship programme hosted by the SLHTA that targeted students from Soufriere Comprehensive School. As part of that programme, students were tasked with creating intuitive, non-offensive modes of convincing people not to litter.   

These stickers are available free of charge at the Saint Lucia National Trust (SLNT), SLHTA and SLSWMA.

Protecting the environment forms a major part of the responsibilities of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF). That commitment to the environment was demonstrated in April 2019 when the TEF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Saint Lucia National Conservation Fund (SLUNCF).

In that MoU, the TEF pledged to make an annual donation of US$$100,000 for two years to assist the SLUNCF’s operations and for the issuance of grants to deserving organizations which undertake environmental projects with a tourism focus.

The SLUNCF was officially launched on May 28, 2018. It supports long-term management and expansion of Saint Lucia’s areas of land and/or sea specifically dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity and natural resources and other activities that contribute substantially to the conservation, protection and maintenance of biodiversity while creating sustainable livelihoods.

The Trustees on the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), cognizant of the importance of maintaining the integrity of the environment and the social impact that visitors to the island were having on our ecosystems, decided to assist the SLUNCF in reducing the carbon footprint.

One of the first projects earmarked for grants from the TEF pledge is a community youth project in Dennery which focuses on creating signage and awareness related to boa constrictors which cross the main road that runs through that east coast community. Many boa constrictors, which are protected species, have been killed by passing vehicles in that area.

Another project earmarked for assistance concerns coral reef restoration.