Sustainable Development - Our Commitment

We know and love the Grenadines and we want to help people whose dreams are taking them there too.  But we also care about these islands’ communities, ecosystems and environmental qualities – the assets that make the Grenadines so wonderful; and we are conscious of our wider environmental responsibilities too.

Being committed to principles of sustainable development, we will encourage:

• careful selection of sites for development;
• environmentally responsive site planning, architecture and landscaping;
• use of low-impact building materials;
• incorporation of measures to minimise use of energy from non-renewable sources;
• carbon off-setting whenever emissions cannot be avoided;
• ecological awareness;
• employment of local people for building and other trades wherever possible;
• on-going commitment to social and economic development of the local communities;
• responsible and far-sighted environmental planning by both Government and developers.sm

Eco Tourism

Many of the sites we deal with will lend themselves to developments that have some connection with tourism – whether in the form of resorts, hotels, villa clusters or “second homes”. The Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines is keen to encourage tourism-related developments, whilst being equally keen to protect and retain the environment and culture that visitors find so attractive. As proponents of sustainable forms of development, we support the principles of “Ecoturism” and encourage our clients to take these to heart when considering investment and development.

Those principles are well-conveyed in the following extract from the International Ecotourism  Society’s website:

“Ecotourism is about connecting conservation, communities, and sustainable travel. This means that those who implement and participate in responsible tourism activities should follow the following ecotourism principles:

• minimize impact
• build environmental and cultural awareness and respect
• provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts
• provide direct financial benefits for conservation
• provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people
• raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate”

Bequia Foundation

We are very keen to make sure that local communities benefit from incoming investments and developments.  One way in which we are helping is through our Bequia Foundation. We will contribute a proportion of the income we receive for our services relating to properties on Bequia so that it can be invested in improved community facilities. We are pursuing this with local community organisations.