Pitons Management Area

The 2,909-ha site near the town of Soufriere includes the Pitons, two volcanic spires rising side by side from the sea (770 m and 743 m high respectively), linked by the Piton Mitan ridge. The volcanic complex includes a geothermal field with sulphurous fumeroles and hot springs. Coral reefs cover almost 60% of the site’s marine area. A survey has revealed 168 species of finfish, 60 species of cnidaria, including corals, eight molluscs, 14 sponges, 11 echinoderms, 15 arthropods and eight annelid worms. The dominant terrestrial vegetation is tropical moist forest grading to subtropical wet forest, with small areas of dry forest and wet elfin woodland on the summits. At least 148 plant species have been recorded on Gros Piton, 97 on Petit Piton and the intervening ridge, among them eight rare tree species. The Gros Piton is home to some 27 bird species (five of them endemic), three indigenous rodents, one opossum, three bats, eight reptiles and three amphibians. © UNESCO

Summary
2020 Conservation Outlook
Current state and trend of VALUES
Overall THREATS
Overall PROTECTION and MANAGEMENT
Full assessment
Description of values
Superlative natural beauty
Volcanic features
explosion craters, pyroclastic deposits (pumice and ash), and lava flows. Collectively, these fully illustrate the volcanic history of an andesitic composite volcano associated with crustal plate subduction (World Heritage Committee, 2016).
reptiles and 3 amphibians. The endemic St Lucia anole Anolis luceae, St Lucia pygmy gecko Sphaerodactylus microlepis, St Lucia boa Constrictororophias, and St Lucia viper (or fer-de-lance) Bothrops caribbaeus occur (IUCN, 2004).
Assessment information
Research on the marine component is promoted and coordinated by the SMMA, and carried out by external researchers (SMMA website).
Additional information
№ | Organization | Brief description of Active Projects | Website |
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1 | Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Cooperatives | The "Addressing Problems of Land Degradation and Ecosystem Degradation in the Upper Reaches of the Soufriere Watershed in Saint Lucia" project seeks to address the problems of land degradation and ecosystem degradation in the upper reaches of the Soufriere Watershed through rehabilitation of lands, provision of alternative sustainable livelihoods, capacity building and public awareness. A project of UNDP SGP GEF - Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystems Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (IWEco). The Project officially started on 30th November 2017 and is being implemented over a three-year period, ending in October 2020. |
https://www.iweco.org/countries/saint-lucia
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2 | Saint Lucia Forestry Division, FFI | Restoration of the Juniperis Barbadensis or pencil cedar. Saint Lucia’s Petit Piton, one of the iconic cone shaped mountains in the PMA, is home to the last remaining population in the world of the Critically Endangered Juniperus barbadensis var. barbadensis, known locally as the pencil cedar. Flora and Fauna International through its Global Trees Campaign is working with the Saint Lucia Forestry Division to restore the population of pencil cedar in the PMA and on Saint Lucia generally. |
https://globaltrees.org/projects/using-christmas-to-save-saint-lucias-pencil-cedars/
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References
№ | References |
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1 |
Forestry Department Union (2012). Survey of Invasive Alien Plant Species on Gros Piton, Saint Lucia, 2012 carried out under the project Mitigating the Threats of Invasive Alien Species in the Insular Caribbean. Project No. GFL / 2328 – 2713-4A86, GF-1030-09-03.
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2 |
IUCN Evaluation, 2004
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3 |
Lindsay, J. M., & Robertson, R. E. (2018). Integrating volcanic hazard data in a systematic approach to develop volcanic hazard maps in the Lesser Antilles. Frontiers in Earth Science, 6:42. doi: 10.3389/feart.2018.00042
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4 |
State Party of Saint Lucia (2015). Report of the State Party to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of Pitons Management Area (Saint Lucia). < http://whc.unesco.org/document/139804> Accessed 25 October 2017
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5 |
State Party of Saint Lucia. (2017). Report of the State Party to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of Pitons Management Area (Saint Lucia). [online] Government of Saint Lucia.
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6 |
State Party of Saint Lucia. (2020). Report of the State Party to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of Pitons Management Area (Saint Lucia). [online] Government of Saint Lucia.
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7 |
UNESCO. (2018). Report on the State of Conservation of Pitons Management Area, Saint Lucia. State of Conservation Information System of the World Heritage Centre. [online] Paris, France: UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/soc/3674 (Accessed 3 October 2019).
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8 |
World Heritage Committee (2016). Decision 40 COM 7B.77 Pitons Management Area (Saint Lucia) (N 1161)
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9 |
World Heritage Committee. (2014). Decision 38 COM 7B.85 Pitons Management Area (Saint Lucia) (N 1161)
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10 |
World Heritage Committee. (2018). Decision 42 COM 7B.88 Pitons Management Area (Saint Lucia) (N 1161)
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