ravine saab
Ravine Saab is
thirty-five acres of sub-tropical forest on the Carribean island of St Lucia
which was planted many years ago as a coconut and citrus plantation. It has
been little harvested or maintained in recent years. The Ravine Saab Collective
currently comprises 4 people - one from St Lucia and 3 from England - who would
like to use this area for sustainable production of fruit, vegetables and
flowers. Produce already available includes coconuts, grapefruit, oranges,
avocadoes, mangoes, yams, breadfruit and cashew nuts. There is also a flower
garden of tropical lilies. Both the orchards and the flower garden can be
expanded. This would not involve removing any trees but clearing of
fast-growing bamboo. There are two buildings already on the site and an
abundance of wild and cultivated food for workers. Further buildings can be
constructed from bamboo. The aim is to disturb the forest as little as
possible. There is a supply of clean river water which is suitable for drinking
and there are places to swim nearby. The Ravine Saab farm is very remote at 45
minutes walk from the nearest road.
Many St Lucians are concerned about 
economic dependence on producing bananas
for the world market which involves unhealthy and unsustainable farming
practices and does not provide a reliable income due to worldwide capital
shifts. Our project will demonstrate a more sustainable alternative and one of
our aims is to generate enough income to employ local workers at a fair wage.
Income will be generated by selling produce to local hotels, health food shops
and at market. We will consider obtaining organic and fair-trade certification
to export to the USA. A possible side project is cultivation and processing of
medicinal plants. This has been done in rainforest projects in Brazil and Costa
Rica.
The three
English volunteers will be leaving for St Lucia in early November. Two of the
volunteers are vegan and all food cooked communally on the farm will be vegan.
We are looking for other volunteers to join us in this exciting project which
will help to build a model for sustainable production in sub-tropical forests
and provide an opportunity to taste the life of nature's abundance in the
world's most hospitable climate zone.