Montserrat EcoPlay
EcoPlay Montserrat
About
The Montserrat National Trust needs your help to complete the final stages of their vision to undertake the building of a bespoke environmental education centre to help their young people learn about the island and protect biodiversity.
The Montserrat National Trust runs the Monty’s Messengers programme that is reconnecting children with nature and, by linking with local schools, is providing educational and environmental resources to help inspire the next generation of environmental guardians.
To help deliver this environmental education vision, Montserrat National Trust bought a plot of land next to the Trust’s botanical garden to build EcoPlay. Pro bono support from Dennis Sharp Architects was secured via UKOTCF to design the building. This building will provide educational facilities for young children under the age of 6 years as well as older children, adults, families and visitors to the island as well as a research station for visiting scientists. EcoPlay features a large garden that will include a horticultural area where young people can learn about the importance of growing food and a wild plant area for insects and other wildlife, allowing their study on-site.
About Montserrat
Montserrat, a mountainous volcanic island in the Caribbean, is home to around 4,000 people and a wonderful diversity of plants and animals. Montserrat has a unique flora and fauna with approximately 400 regional endemics and 120 single island endemics – species that are found nowhere else on earth.
Montserrat is divided into three main areas, the Silver Hills, the Centre Hills, and the Soufriere Hills, the latter the site of the recent volcanic eruptions. This island, like others around the world, is experiencing the impacts of climate change and the unique biodiversity of the island is at risk.
Musical Roots
Home to the legendary Arrow, who sang the hot song “Hot, Hot, Hot” as well as the AIR recording studio, where George Martin cut many of the 1980s musical hits, such as Rio by Duran Duran, Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits, Steel Wheels by the Rolling Stones and Synchronicity by the Police, Monserrat is a green jewel in the Caribbean. This island, with such a fascinating history and surprising links to Europe, particularly Ireland (with which it shares St Patrick’s Day as a national holiday and the shamrock as a national symbol), has shown great resilience to multiple environmental challenges, such as Hurricane Hugo and the volcanic eruptions of 1995-2010 which devastated the capital and only town, Plymouth, and left two-thirds of the island uninhabitable to this day. The biggest challenge is to rebuild housing and the economy while maintaining the natural environment on which many species found nowhere else in the world are still found.
Crucial to this is engaging young people in the environment. The local conservation NGO, Montserrat National Trust, is making great strides in this, and has identified the EcoPlay project as the key to building on this.
Montserrat's Legacy
The Montserrat National Trust has been leading cultural and ecological conservation on Montserrat for over 50 years. One of their many work outputs is to run Monty’s Messengers, a programme that was established before the volcanic eruptions, to engage children of primary school age and develop their love for Montserrat’s endemic and native species (such as the Montserrat oriole). Recently re-established, this programme is an exciting way for children to explore their local forests and wetlands, learn more about Montserrat’s nature and culture and embrace their responsibility to it. In the modern world, there has been a striking shift in how children socialise, learn and spend their free time. Although computers and mobile devices have transformed the ability of young people to learn about the world, screens are now a large part of children’s lives and they are increasingly sedentary, unaware of the wonders of their natural world. Montserrat National Trust also recently launched the Monty’s Ambassador’s programme, where young people of secondary school age can develop skills and get training that will support their CVs.
Facility Overview
Contributing towards International Targets
Global Biodiversity Framework Targets
Sustainable Development Goals
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) sets global goals to protect biodiversity through its targets, most recently updated as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022. These targets aim to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 and include goals such as protecting 30% of land and sea areas, restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems, reducing pollution, and ensuring sustainable use of natural resources.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 global goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all by 2030. They cover a wide range of issues, including health, education, gender equality, clean water, climate action, and biodiversity. Each goal has specific targets and indicators to measure progress, encouraging countries to work together toward a more sustainable and equitable future.
UKOTCF registered as a limited company in England and Wales No. 3216892 and a Registered Charity No. 1058483.
Please note all project costs include the 7.5% administration fee for the UKOTCF to coordinate, support delivery and auditing of these projects.
Contact us
Please contact us at hello@ukotcf.org