Community Group

Organization’s Vision:

The core vision of Mt Stanhope Community Group is to solve unsolved problems innovatively and to improve the livelihoods of Grenadians in the St. Mark’s parish by harnessing the natural resources in sustainable and innovative ways. The intrinsic core values of the Mt. Stanhope Community Group are innovation in environment and agriculture with the preservation of the Grenadian small island magic and the education of our guests as well as sharing the rich culture of Grenada.

Organisation’s Mission:

Mt Stanhope Community Group pledges to continuously improve the agricultural, tourism and forestry product and services via innovation and creativity that harnesses the natural resources in sustainable ways that will meet our customers and stakeholders needs; by providing them with opportunities for satisfying experiences and financially rewarding work with continuous opportunities for personal development and advancement.

Date established:

Mt. Stanhope Community Group was established in November 2004 after hurricane Ivan.

Why:

The main socio-economic issue revolves around the persons whose livelihoods have depended in some manner on the estate and the surrounding areas. The estate directly employed a number of persons, while others depended on the hunting trade and others had a more indirect connection via the multiplier effect. The estate served as a place of employment for a cross-section of persons ranging from unskilled to semi-skilled labor. This source of employment was transformed from a reliable source to an unreliable source after the passage of hurricanes Ivan & Emily. The impact has been most detrimental to the women of the area, as they had depended on the nutmeg crop for their livelihoods – ranging from the harvesting of the nutmegs and other spices, to the processing of the said spices in the town of Victoria. After hurricane Ivan, the estate could not continue as a viable business operation. However, given the commitment to the workers and hunters who relied on the estate, the owners of the estate joined with the community members to form the Mt. Stanhope Community Group as a means to explore innovative solutions to the sudden rise in unemployment in the area due to the after effects of the hurricanes.

Objective 1:

Education – living with the land: The initial training of the MSCG members and the wider community will focus on the importance of the biodiversity assets of the land. The second stage training will include everyday habitat conservation methods and population monitoring as well as the identification and uses of the plant-life. The final stage of the training will include tour and customer service etiquette, first-aid, business skills including the areas of marketing, bookkeeping, management, conflict & negotiation skills and team building. Expected within the first year and ongoing for the project’s life.

Objective 2:
Replanting & Reintroduction of Native plants: The re-planting of the indigenous plant stock including forest trees while maintaining the biodiversity of the area. In the first stage the remaining rare plant stock will be propagated in order to have young plants to re-introduce across the identified areas. These include the Penny Piece (Pouteria multiflora), Bois Bande (Roupala montana), Silk Cotton (Ceiba pentandra), Sappotte (Calocarpum mammosum), Poix Doux (I. Laurina), Mammee Apple (Mammea americana), Blue Mahoe (Paritium elatum) among many others; the replanting effort will also focus on the medicinal herbs indigenous to the island. The second stage will include the replanting of the plant stock to the identified areas as well as the propagation of the indigenous flower plant stock for the same purpose. Initiated within the first year and expected completion within 36 months.

Objective 3:

Rehabilitation of Nature Trails & Roads:

The rehabilitation of the road access and natural trails as well as opening new trails. The reopening of the nature trails will enhance the tours of the natural sites including the waterfalls, which will provide the sustainable alternative to the current hunting activity. The co-requisite stage will include GPS mapping and physical zoning of the eco-tourism, agro-tourism, conservation and agricultural sectors of the estate. Initiated within the first year and expected completion within 36 months.

Objective 4:

Construction of Guest & MSCG Facilities:

The construction of the Visitor’s Welcome Center, the vendor’s center, refreshment gazebos, the zipline course and landscaping of the botanical gardens are to ensure the longevity of the project’s impact beyond the initial funding. The MSCG will also construct limited living quarters to accommodate night-time security, and overnight living quarters for the various volunteers. To ensure the continued participation of women within the project a small child day-care center will be included in the construction. The construction will be a testimony to ‘green’ construction utilizing mainly bamboo. Initiated within the first year and expected completion within 36 months.

Objective 5:

Biodiversity Assessment:

Assessment of vertebrate biodiversity on the Mt. Stanhope Estate. The biodiversity assessments will be done through standard, measurable sampling techniques (establishing permanent random transects stratified by habitat, daytime and night-time surveys etc.). We will establish population indices, across a variety of species, which will allow monitoring of the populations of those species into the future. We expect to establish population indices and baseline population estimates for multiple species over the three years of the project.