ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC BASELINE STUDIES St. Kitts and Nevis Site Report for Central Forest Reserve, St. Kitts Prepared for: The OECS Protected Areas and Associated Livelihoods (OPAAL) Project Prepared by: IRF Team Comprising: Dr. Brian Cooper, Lucia Mings, Kevel Lindsay, and Jean-Pierre Bacle 6 June 2011 Acknowledgements This activity is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the World Bank and the Fond Français de L’Environment Mondial (FFEM). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the donor agencies supporting the activity or of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). This report on the baseline environmental and socio-economic study of the Central Forest Reserve National Park (CFRNP), which forms the demonstration site for the OECS Protected Areas and Associated Livelihoods Project in St. Kitts and Nevis, has benefited from several prior studies and reports which have been acknowledged and documented in the text and in the References section of this report. In particular, the authors would like to mention the Management Plan for the CFRN, 2008-2011 produced by Cathryn Wild in 2008 and Lloyd Gardner’s Comparative Analysis for Development of a Harmonised Protected Areas Management Framework within the OECS, which was completed in January 2007. Both documents provided a lot of useful information and thoughtful analysis. Many other persons contributed to the gathering of information and its interpretation. In particular, Randolph Edmead, the Chief Environmental Officer and functional Head of the NICE and Andy Blanchette, Environmental Officer, and other staff of the Department of Physical Planning and Environment (DPPE), in the Ministry of Finance and Sustainable Development, were extremely helpful in arranging meetings with members of the NICE and Site Implementation Entity (SIE), providing information and other valuable assistance in conducting the field surveys by the provision of transport and drivers. Without their help, much less would have been achieved in the short time available in the country. The IRF team would also like to thank Ilis Watts, Site Coordinator and member of the SIE, who also provided valuable assistance and accompanied the biodiversity team on their climb to the fabulous Dos d’Ane Pond. island resources P a g e ii Other Government officials consented to meet with the team, including, Raquel Williams, Member of the SIE and Forest Engineer, and Paul Benjamin, Agricultural Officer, both members of the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as Randolph Hamilton, Manager of Special Products, Board of Tourism, with whom valuable discussions were held. The team also wishes to thank the various members of civil society with whom they were able to meet and especially for the assistance of the St Christopher National Trust (SCNT), which was contracted as the IRF’s local partner. The Executive Director of the SCNT, Natasha Leader, generously directed her staff to give the team every assistance including information from their extensive library. Kate Orchard and Jacqueline Armony acted as SCNT representatives on the team, and they provided invaluable assistance. Gregg Pereira of Gregg’s Tours took time from his busy, high-season schedule to discuss how tour guiding works in the CFRNP and his assessment of the Park’s development and concerns for the conservation of its richness. Finally, the assistance of the OECS Environment and Sustainable Development Unit in Saint Lucia, especially Tecla Fontenard and Susanna Scott, must be acknowledged for their support in providing guidance, project documents, and helpful comments on the draft reports. We know that the process of developing a functional system of protected areas to conserve the wonderful biodiversity which St. Kitts possesses is just beginning, and much work remains to be done. However, we hope that this report will provide some useful help in guiding the thinking and assessing the options as the work which the OPAAL Project has started continues to go forward. island resources P a g e iii Table of Contents ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC BASELINE STUDIES: Central Forest Reserve, St. Kitts................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ ii Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. iv List of Acronyms and Abbreviations........................................................................................ ix PART I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO BASELINE STUDIES 1. Introduction and Background .......................................................................................... 1 1.1. Overview.................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. The Central Forest Reserve ....................................................................................................... 2 1.3. Dominating Influence of the Central Range .............................................................................. 4 1.4. Vision for the Central Forest Reserve National Park (CFRNP) ................................................... 6 1.5. Other Protected Areas in St Kitts and Nevis .............................................................................. 6 1.6. Need for a Systematic Approach to Protected Area Development .......................................... 7 2. Site Description and Context ........................................................................................... 8 2.1. Location and Extent ................................................................................................................... 8 2.2. Physical Description of the Central Range................................................................................ 9 3. References ..................................................................................................................... 13 4. List of Persons Consulted ............................................................................................... 18 island resources P a g e iv PART II. ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE STUDY 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 19 2. Approach to the Environmental Baseline Study.............................................................. 20 2.1. Literature Review .................................................................................................................... 20 2.2 Collection of Mapped Data (digital and hard copy) ................................................................ 20 2.3 Interviews to Access Local Knowledge .................................................................................... 20 2.4. Survey Methodology ............................................................................................................... 20 3. Observations: Vegetation and Flora ............................................................................... 27 3.1. Vegetation Communities ......................................................................................................... 27 3.2 Plant Species of the Central Forest Reserve ............................................................................ 28 4. Observations: Fauna...................................................................................................... 36 4.1. General Observations .............................................................................................................. 36 4.2 Birds..................... .................................................................................................................... 37 4.3 Mammals ................................................................................................................................. 42 4.4 Amphibians and Reptiles ......................................................................................................... 45 4.5 Freshwater Fish ....................................................................................................................... 46 4.6. Game Species and Hunting...................................................................................................... 49 4.7. Invasive Vertebrate Species .................................................................................................... 50 5. Convervation Issues and Targets .................................................................................... 52 5.1. Restoring and Maintaining Ecological Integrity ...................................................................... 52 5.2. Issues and Targets: Recommendations .................................................................................. 53 APPENDIX 1 List of Plants of the Central Forest Reserve ...................................................... 55 APPENDIX 2 Concept Proposal and Cost Estimate for an Ecological Assessment of the Central Forest Reserve ..................................................................................................... 67 island resources P a g e v PART III. SOCIO-ECONOMIC BASELINE STUDY 1. Assessment of the Socio-Economic Context ............................................................................... 72 1.1. Approach and Methodology