Bagkground

The Morne Trois Pitons was first proposed as a protected area in 1952. The areas was designated a National Park under the national Park and Protected Areas Act in 1975. The MTPNP was enlisted as a Wlrld heritale List in december 1997 and inscribed in August of1998. The designation of the Park as a WHS once again brought into focus the traditional tensions existing between the Park managers and residents of thre adjoining communities which had previously utilized the raea in support of their livelihoods.

As a result of the enforcement of the laws under the Act traditional activities such as fishing, hunting, farming and logging were prohibited. The communities on the fringes of the WHS which historically interacted with the are a were therefore affected by these prohibition measures.

Petite Savanne is one of the communities situated on the southern tip of the WHS. Residents rely primarily on the production of bay-oil and local rum for income generation and livelihood

The goals of the project:
To enable residents of Petite Savanne to enjoy an improved standard of living by the successful implementation of economically sustainable alternative livelihoods projects which encourage and enhance biodiversity conservation in the MTPNPWHS.
The objectives are :
To increase the community awareness of the WHS
Train group members in various specific skills required for the successful project imoplementation including project mamagement and group dynamics.
Increase income earnings capacity of project participants.
Create employment for villagers especially unemployed youth.
Build capacity of groups

Project activities:
Training of group members in the various skills to gurantee successful implementation of the project.
Purchase of tolls, equipment and machinary for the five sub projects.
Monitiring and implementation of the projects by the Petite Savanne Village Council.

The beneficiaries :
The five groups on whose behalf the project proposal was submitted by the Petite Savanne Village Council. . These are the Petite Savanne Cultural Group, The Community Furniture Group, The Botanical Jewelry Producers Group, the heritage Trio Sewing Group and the Petite Savanne Village Council.