Pride Program Manager, Annalisa Bianchessi has. Read her latest tale from the field: her trip to St. Lucia and the 100th Pride campaign. And, get some island fever by listening to the St. Lucia Pride campaign song!

While in St. Lucia a few weeks ago I was escorted to the airport by one of the finest Caribbean treasures: the very original St. Lucia iguana.

The St. Lucis Iguana mascot visits local vendors in St. Lucia

To be honest there were two of us getting escorted to the St. Lucia airport, myself and Rosemary Godfrey, a former Rare Pride Program Manager. And that in itself was already a very special event because this was Rosemary’s very last trip to the airport while working for Rare, or at least the last for now.

She will be moving on to pastures anew after 6 years of excellent work, and if the last year in which I was able to work alongside her is anything to go by, I have seldom met someone so dedicated, thoughtful, and professional in her work. So well done Rose, and thank you for being such an inspiration!

On this trip to the airport we were not alone. In fact, little short of rolling out a red carpet — it was rather an honourable experience. Our escort consisted of no less than an entire group of Forestry Department staff, a big truck with music, and two lizards: a life-sized one and an actual one.

And not only that, the route to the airport was somewhat prolonged along small countryside roads to encompass scenic spots, town markets, church squares and most importantly school yards. At each stop housewives, shop owners, and tourists would trickle out of their dwellings and children and teachers would flood out of schools to come and shake hands with the giant lizard, dance to the tune of the Pride song, the St Lucia iguana, and come and admire the guest of honour: no not us — the St Lucia native iguana.

So what brought all this about?

The foremost reason for this road show is unfortunately not such a happy one. There is an imminent need to protect the St. Lucia Iguana, a native lizard that is thought to be genetically distinct from the Green Iguana and unique to St. Lucia. The species used to be widespread in St. Lucia, so much so that the Amerindians called the island Iyanola meaning the place where the iguana is found. Today native iguanas are confined to a few remnant areas in the North East and the population, estimated at less than 1,000, is thought to be in rapid decline. Threats include habitat loss from development and sand mining, hunting by humans, stray cats, dogs, and invasive species.

The other “reason” for this road show is St. Lucia’s long standing history with Paul Butler, now Senior Vice President of Global Programs at Rare, and the use of social marketing techniques to bring about social change on behalf of biodiversity and conservation. The Forestry department in St. Lucia is where Paul Butler first developed a social marketing campaign to call for action to protect the St. Lucia parrot. The campaign was such a success that today the parrot has become a symbol of national pride and has even made it onto the St. Lucian dollar bills. More importantly, in large parts of the rainforest the parrots rely on are being protected and the population of parrots which was estimated at less than a 100 in the 1970s has recovered to some 600.

The techniques that Paul Butler used in the late 1980s have been developed to form what is now known as a Rare Pride campaign. The method is being replicated in biodiversity hotspots across the world and the current campaign to protect the St Lucia Iguana is no less than the 100th. How appropriate that it should be back on the island where it first started.

So what is the current campaign trying to achieve?

“The objectives of the campaign have been set under two distinctive themes” says the St. Lucia Campaign Manager Feria Narcisse-Gaston. “The first is to show the value of the North East and of the native Iguana by creating an eco-brand for the region under the name of Iyanola. The second is to keep it green by enhancing local ownership amongst the communities of the North East Coast.”

 This approach will encourage positive community-led action to protect iguana nesting sites by preventing sand-mining vehicles from accessing the beaches, encouraging men to stop hunting iguanas, changing pet owners behaviour to stop dogs and cats from predating on iguanas and turtles, initiate regular litter collection (to reduce rat predation of iguanas and turtles) and by enabling greater enforcement of legislation (through increased Forestry Office patrols). A parallel objective of the campaign will be to work on improving the regulatory system for development in the area under the motto: make it green.

The long term aim will be to measure an increase in the population of the iguana from less than 1,000 to 1,500 by the year 2020.

The messages are being spread through a range of activities including – the creation of neighbourhood watch patrols, football competitions, an Iyanola Festival, billboards, printed materials such as posters and fact sheets, beach cleanups, and economic enterprises such as craft making and of course…the road show!

And judging by what I have witnessed on our journey to the airport this campaign is promising to be a mover and a shaker. Kids, especially, were finding themselves spontaneously dancing to the tunes of the campaign. I can’t blame them though as the two songs are indeed very catchy. I dare you to listen to either of these two songs without tapping your foot or singing the tune for the next week to come.