Country

Saint Lucia: 2 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Saint Lucia pairs two Lesser Antillean ecoregions. The Windward Islands moist forests occupy the mountainous, rain-fed interior, while the Lesser Antillean dry forests, a small ecoregion of about 250 square miles across the island chain, hold the drier coastal lowlands. Both are tropical broadleaf biomes, one moist and one dry, and both are judged able to reach half protection. On a small volcanic island the divide is all elevation and exposure: cloud-brushed uplands stay green year-round, while leeward coasts see a real dry season. Gardeners near the coast should lean on drought-tolerant dry-forest natives, and interior or upland sites support the full moist-forest palette. The dry-forest strip is the scarcer habitat, which gives coastal native plantings particular value.