Saint Vincent and Grenadines - The La Soufrière National Park

The island of St Vincent is one of a chain of volcanic islands known as the Lesser Antilles that forms part of an island arc where there is active volcanism. The volcanic activity is caused by the subduction (underthrusting) of the Atlantic Ocean floor below the Caribbean Sea floor. La Soufriere volcano located in the northern part of the island is the only active volcano on the island and is one of 20 other live volcanoes located in the Lesser Antilles. A live volcano is described as a volcano that is currently erupting or has the capacity to erupt again. La Soufriere occupies almost a one third of the island, and embodies several geographical features such as hot springs, several craters and dry rivers. La Soufrière is one of the most active volcanoes in the Lesser Antilles and has a long history of eruptions with the historical records showing eruptions in 1718, 1812, 1814, 1902-1903, 1971-72 and 1979. Loss of life was recorded in the 1812 and 1902-03 eruptions when 56 persons died in 1812 and over 1500 in 1902-03. The volcano first evolved some 700,000 years ago and has a long history of continuous growth to a stratovolcano comprising mainly of pyroclastic rocks and minor basaltic andesite flows and dome lavas. The entire island of St Vincent is composed of volcanic rock and shows that the island had a volcanic history beginning as far back as 2.7 million years. There are at least 3 extinct volcanic centres on the island located to the south of La Soufriere. These are the South-East volcanic centre, the Grand Bonhomme centre and the Morne Garu centre and represent the early evolution of the island of St Vincent. The La Soufriere volcano by definition can be described as a Geoheritage site. The word geoheritage is defined as the heritage of features of a geological nature. The mixed nomination will include a cultural heritage aspect in the form of the Lasham Sugar Factory Ruins, and natural features such as the West Petit Bordel Bay, and the mountain range which spans the East of Georgetown on the Windward side of the island.

Saint Vincent and Grenadine - Rock Art of St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Name of site Latitude Longitude The 13 Stones 13˚17 ̒29˝N 61˚14 ̒52˝W Petit Bordel 13˚16 ̒51˝N 61˚14 ̒56˝W Barrouallie 13˚14 ̒07˝N 61˚16 ̒31˝W Mount Wynne 13˚13 ̒08˝N 61˚16 ̒39˝W Buccament 13˚11 ̒20˝N 61˚16 ̒00˝W Sharpes Stream 13˚09 ̒49˝N 61˚13 ̒24˝W Indian Bay 13˚08 ̒02˝N 61˚12 ̒29˝W Yambou 1 13˚09 ̒15˝N 61˚08 ̒58˝W Colonarie 13˚14 ̒32˝N 61˚07 ̒55˝W The country has some 18 recordedrock art sites distributed mainly in river valleys near the coast. One site is on a south coast peninsula and one in a rock shelter. Two sites are in the Grenadines. The rock art of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is in the form of petroglyphs engraved or rubbed on isolated boulders and exposed rock faces largely composed of andesite. What is most remarkable about Vincentian rock art sites is that they embody features characteristic of Antillean Petroglyphs on the one hand whilst also having shapes typical of mainland South America on the other. Notwithstanding St. Vincent rock art depicts many features common to both parts of the Caribbean and indeed rock art sites throughout the world. These features include many small, simple, anthropomorphic faces together with cup holes, polissoirs and patterns of geometric grooves. Larger more complex faces start to show regional, stylistic characteristics to be found in the Caribbean area. Elements of dress and body decoration may be evident. Some images the Vincentian rocks have are common in the islands of the Antilles but are not present in mainland South America. Such characteristics include double ears, ears joined to eyes and head-foot people. This supports the idea that the art form has diversified since migration to the islands.

Saint Vincent and Grenadines - Grenadines Island Group

The Grenadines are a group of 35 small islands located between Grenada and St. Vincent in the Windward Islands of theLesser Antilles. They stretch over a distance of 90 km from the Island of London Bridge in the south to Bequia in the north. The natural boundary of the site is approximate to the Grenadine Shelf, which is some 50m deep and falls off steeply into the Tobago Trough. Geologically, the area lies along the interface of theCaribbeanand South American Tectonic plates. Several active undersea mounts (e.g. Kick’em Jenny) attest to the ongoing movement of these plates The international boundary between Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines runs east to west across the bank between Petit Martinique and Petit St. Vincent. Nonetheless, the linkages among all the Grenadine Islands on both sides of the boundary are historically strong and continue to be active. Fishing, informal trade, tourism and island social life proceed with little attention to the boundary. In both countries ‘mainlanders’ concede that the connections among the Grenadine islands are in most cases stronger than those with the main island. Efforts by these two countries to conserve coral reef biodiversity can be seen as contribution to reef biodiversity conservation at the regional level.