Luxury resort in Saint Lucia, Jade Mountain

Planet

Birdwatching:
Home to the magical Piton Mountains, lush landscapes, unspoilt rainforests and palm-fringed beaches, St Lucia is the beautiful Caribbean island that has it all and more.

From a birding point of view, St Lucia is very accessible being just 27 miles long and 14 miles wide and is probably one of the most important of the Lesser Antilles as it holds six single island endemics, one of which is the islands national bird, the St Lucia Parrot (Amazona Veriscolor), a species that recovered from dangerously low population numbers in the early 1980's. The other endemics are the St Lucia Pewee, St Lucia Warbler, St Lucia Oriole, St Lucia Black Finch and Semper’s Warbler. This gives St Lucia the distinction of having the highest number of endemic birds in the Eastern Caribbean region.
Guests who wish to pre-book a birdwatching package can book with us: the package includes five days of specific excursion activities tailored to provide the best experiences available for birdwatching enthusiasts, taking full advantage of the Resort's location on the Southwest coast near the town of Soufriere and the world famous Pitons. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the area is a notable attraction to eco-minded tourists from around the world. Excursion activities begin with a visit to the Anse Mamin Plantation, the 400 acre historical estate which is part of the resort property. Guides will instruct guests on how to view the birds responsibly without disturbing their natural habitats.

Trails within this lush coastal tropical estate with its 18th century plantation ruins are ideal for birding. The birdwatching package also includes a visit to the Millet Bird Sanctuary where over 30 bird species can be seen, including five of the endemic species. Participants will also enjoy St Lucia's lush rain forest on the Des Cartier Trail. Following ridge tops at about 1,800+ feet above sea level, this relatively easy 1.5 mile loop hike takes you through one of the wettest tropical forests on earth receiving as much as 150-200 inches of rain annually. The St Lucia Parrot is readily encountered along this trail.

The resort itself has many environmental practices in place:

It emphasizes fresh, local products with a purchasing plan that includes certified organic foods, sustainable agriculture eco-labelled foods, and locally produced foods.

The resort has provided guidance and training to local farmers, it operates an organic farm using certified seeds only to further support the locally purchased produce.


WATER MANAGEMENT “Water is Life”
A great effort was undertaken to make the water supply independent from the community of Soufriere in order not to burden the community in any fashion whatsoever.

The 1.5 million gallon reservoir in the Anse Mamin valley, dating back to the 18th century, was restored to serve as a catchment for both rain water and river water and is used, via our fresh water treatment station, as fresh water for the resorts.
Water consumption is regularly monitored and recorded daily to help us instantly identify if we have any leaks or unusual spikes in consumption not consistent with normal trends.

There is a written water plan with specific usage and savings goals, and the supplier encourages its employees and customers to participate.
We ensure that all cleaning products in use are non-toxic, non-corrosive, and biodegradable.
We enforce strict waste-water discharge practices to minimize impact to the environment.
The following water-saving practices are undertaken.
• Treated grey water reuse for irrigation
• Towel and sheet reuse program
• Rainwater collection and reuse
• No wash-down of large areas
• Composting beach toilets

The resort operates a waste water treatment plant on-site and treats waste-water prior to reuse. The final stage is a terraced reed bed that through a natural process “polishes” the effluent water prior to storage for use as irrigation water.
Swimming pool water quality is continuously monitored, and pool water is treated with “Ozoneators” which is a chlorine-free process. (Jade Mountain)
The resorts prevent the extraction of native flora and fauna. We consistently maintain natural waterways and have zero removal of trees to ensure that erosion and runoff are mitigated.

The resorts help manage the protected near shore area- the entire near shore marine environment has been declared a marine reserve.

People

ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT & COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP
Our owner Nick Troubetzkoy was the instigator and founding member of the Soufriere Foundation, a non government organization to benefit the Soufriere community.

He brought scuba diving to St Lucia, by creating the first professional scuba operation on island. This became the catalyst for marine awareness and the preservation of marine resources on St Lucia and was instrumental in the creation of the Soufriere Marine Management Authority.

The resorts provide education and training to the resort team, it actively encourages all employees to participate in its sustainability goals and programs.
It has been the philosophy of the resort owners to keep as much economic benefit as possible in the region. Since 1974, the resort has either made all furniture and furnishings locally, with local labour, or purchased them from local businesses. Therefore, the majority of the resorts’ gross revenues remain in the local region since 1974!

Jade Mountain was built entirely with the use of a local work force rather than a turnkey project with foreign workers. Only a handful of foremen were employed from overseas to provide training and quality control. Post construction a wealth of knowledge now resides with local tradesmen and artisans.
The resort is majority-owned by a citizen of Saint Lucia.

The resort emphasizes local products with a purchasing plan that includes commercial relationships with small, local providers as much as possible.
The resorts employ a 99% local work force. Additionally, the resorts encourage local residents to stay within the community, rather than seeking employment outside of the community.

99% of the resort's employees have residency within 20 km (12 Miles) of the establishment.

In addition to the resort’s sponsored charity work, Karolin Troubetzkoy started a guest charity program 20 years ago that allows guests to support local charities, reaching from support of the senior citizen home, orphanage to buying school books for children.

The resort actively encourages customers to visit small, locally-operated businesses and the excursion program is built around this.
The resort actively supports the maintenance of local infrastructure (water, roads, electricity, etc.) through economic or in-kind means.