Awards - Jacqueline and Larry Armony
The Euan P. McFarlane Environmental Leadership Award
Jacqueline and Larry Armony, St. Kitts: 2002
The recipients of the 2002 Euan P. McFarlane Award for Outstanding Environmental Leadership in the Insular Caribbean are Jacqueline and Larry Armony of St. Kitts.
For more than a decade, Jacqueline and Larry Armony, a husband and wife team from St. Kitts, have with single-minded determination pursued one shared goal—to protect and conserve the historical, cultural and environmental heritage of their island home. Together, they have inspired, influenced and nurtured three Kittitian institutions, which, collectively, represent the heart and soul of conservation in St. Kitts.
Nomination of the Armonys for the McFarlane Award was made by the Mukti Fund, a U.S.-based foundation that has focussed its grant-making program in St. Kitts and Nevis for almost 20 years. In its nomination, the Mukti Fund wrote, "The Armonys share a love of country that makes them passionate in defense of its history, its culture and its natural landscapes. Their combined energy has achieved results that seemingly would require the resources of legions rather than a single, matrimonially linked team of two."
The Kittitian institutions that the Armonys have most directly influenced are the St. Christopher Heritage Society, the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, and the newly opened National Museum in Basseterre, the country's capital.
The Heritage Society is a 13-year-old NGO founded by a small group of Kittitians who saw the need for an independent voice on behalf of heritage and environmental concerns in St. Kitts. From the beginning, the role of the Armonys has been central to the development of the Society, extending well beyond the titles and offices they have held. They have been key to defining the mission of the organization, to expanding its influence in the country and to increasing the respect it enjoys outside of St. Kitts. Mrs. Armony has been executive director of the Heritage Society since 1995.
The restoration of the Brimstone Hill Fortress began in the mid-1960s, and today it is managed as a national park. Two years ago, the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park was formally recognized by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee and inscribed on the World Heritage List of Cultural Properties of "universal cultural value," the first cultural site in the English-speaking Caribbean to be so designated. Larry Armony is the first Kittitian to hold the post of General Manager of Brimstone Hill. In addition to advancing the country's longstanding commitment to the preservation and protection of the monument, Mr. Armony has sought a closer integration of Brimstone Hill into the larger community life of St. Kitts, an approach that has been central to his work at this important national landmark.
Finally, the Armonys have been leaders in the establishment of a National Museum in St. Kitts, an ambitious project that has combined the resources and commitment of both the national Government and the St. Christopher Heritage Society. Planning for the Museum commenced in 1996, and in May of 2002 the Museum opened its doors to the public for the first time in the restored Old Treasury Building on Basseterre's waterfront. In her remarks at the opening reception for the National Museum, Mrs. Armony expressed the vision and convictions that have long shaped the many contributions she and her husband have made on behalf of their country and its heritage:
This opening is … one that I consider of national significance, a milestone along the road of nation building, a demonstration of an independent people who wish to tell their story, and seek in a tangible way to understand where they have come from so as to better forge a way forward.
The formal presentation of the 2002 McFarlane Award to Jacqueline and Larry Armony will be made by the Chairman of Island Resources Foundation, Dr. Edward Towle, in St. Kitts in October 2002.
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