WORK BEGINS TO DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE LANSAN TREE, SAINT LUCIA

The Global Trees Campaign has initiated work in Saint Lucia, which will lead to the first sustainable management plan for the lansan tree. This rainforest tree is prized for its valuable aromatic resin but has become threatened due to over-harvesting in recent years.

Saint Lucia is home to the largest remaining population of lansan, a tree that is of great cultural and economic value due to the aromatic white resin that it produces.Over harvesting of resin has led to a serious decline in trees, with a 2009 survey of the population showing that many trees have been weakened or killed by hundreds of cuts.

Keen to prevent the loss of this charismatic tree, the Government of Saint Lucia, Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry and Fisheries, supported by the Global Trees Campaign has initiated a project to develop a sustainable management plan for the tree. In 2010 the project will work with local communities and resin tappers to gather data on harvesting and the resin market. This initial phase will provide information, which will form the basis of a sustainable management plan.

See the Sustainable management of the lansan tree in Saint Lucia project page for more information on this work, or the lansan tree profile for more information about the species.

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