Grants
SVGEF Hurricane Beryl Relief
News Release August 5th 2024
Hurricane Beryl Relief Efforts
The SVGEF has partnered with The February Foundation which has pledged to match all funds raised up to US$125,000 until October 21, 2024. Please make donations by clicking HERE. The platform Just Giving is being used to facilitate the process. The donation campaign is being done in partnership with the Conservation Collective of which we are a member. Send donations with code ‘SVGEF Union’ to help.
Our efforts, driven by your donations, will ensure the desperately needed help reaches our people. Help us reach our goal of raising a total of US$250,000 towards relief efforts through this campaign.
On July 1 st, 2024, Hurricane Beryl made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in St. Vincent and the Grenadines causing huge destruction on our islands, decimating the islands of Mayreau, Union Island, Petit St. Vincent, and Palm Island which was hit by the eye wall of the Hurricane. Hurricane Beryl is a wake-up call that supports the increased urgency of the conservation goals being advocated by the SVGEF since our inception in 2015.
The islands of Union and Mayreau are the inhabited islands that were hardest hit and where more than 98% of the 3,000 inhabitants have lost their homes and had their boats damaged. 100 percent of the forests and mangroves on Union Island have been damaged, and in some areas, 100 percent of trees were toppled and cannot recover, in other areas some 40% of trees were toppled. The forest will need intervention and replanting for it to recover. Similarly, many coral reefs and sea grass beds were destroyed.
The SVGEF is committed to supporting the communities in which we work, as conservation is only possible with strong relationships of trust. As such, in the aftermath of the hurricane, we were among the first organisations to offer immediate assistance to the affected islands in the Grenadines.
rmed with extensive local knowledge, we are focused on providing targeted support, enabled by our existing networks within the affected communities. We aim to help rebuild with new resilience and with long-term goals of sustainability and preservation of our biodiversity in partnership with the fishing communities who are custodians of our fragile ecosystems in the Grenadines.
Please give generously. The February Foundation has pledged to match all funds up to US$125,000.00. Help us reach the goal of raising a total of US$250,000.00 towards relief efforts. Send donations with code ‘SVGEF Union’ to help.
