From the Director

Dear Supporter

Welcome to the January-March 2010 newsletter of the St Helena National Trust.

In the last newsletter I mentioned that the Trust had applied for some large amounts of funding. I’m delighted to say that we have been successful in winning £300,000 of funding for a new project to conserve St Helena’s fragile natural environment and to train young people in conservation skills. This is the biggest award the Trust has ever received. It’s a huge honour for the Trust as the Darwin Initiative is a very prestigious fund, and it’s the first time that an organisation from the Overseas Territories has been awarded the funding directly.

A key priority for the Trust is to make sure that we have the right vision for conserving the built and natural environment. We are currently reviewing our strategy and coming up with new priorities for the next five years. It’s important that we can support the development of tourism on the island as well as providing improved amenities and enjoyment for Saints. We are asking for your input to help shape our future – see the news item below for details. 

High Knoll fort is one of the major historic sites on St Helena, yet it has been closed for three years due to collapsed walls. The Trust has been working with the Government to get this iconic site reopened for the recent visit of the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship – we made it with a couple of days to spare! The full restoration of the fort will be a longer term ambition, taking a number of years, but we hope to be able to use our heritage construction training project to make a start.

Too often in conservation we hear negative messages about extinctions and other threats to the natural world. So I’m glad to be able to say that St Helena’s very own Wirebird appears to have had a good year, with numbers increasing by over 20%. It’s still critically endangered, with less than 400 adults in the world, but thanks to the work of the Trust, the RSPB and the St Helena Government the species looks to be recovering. Long may that continue.

With very best wishes

Jamie Roberts
Director

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