Over 300 children across eight Caribbean islands stepped out of the classroom and into nature this Earth Day, as the Sandals Foundation rolled out a guided mindfulness programme designed to build environmental awareness and support mental well-being.

Spanning multiple ecological spaces, students aged 9 to 11 across Antigua, Barbados, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada, The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, Curacao, and Jamaica engaged in breathing exercises, nature walks, sensory observation and discussions within national parks, mangrove forest, the gardens at Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort, and national conservation areas, allowing time to decompress and connect to observed biodiversity.

The activity, which fostered disengagement from digital devices, highlighted the role of nature in physical and mental wellbeing. The programme also reinforced the everyday actions young people can take to protect these resources.

“By combining mindfulness with environmental education, we wanted to encourage students to slow down, be present, reflect, and appreciate the beauty of nature which is around them,” says Heidi Clarke, Executive Director at the Sandals Foundation. “We also wanted to share with students that sense of responsibility and power they each have to protect their communities’ natural resources and the services those resources support.”

Across the Caribbean, the Sandals Foundation implements in a wide range of conservation work – engaging 177,526 people in environmental education, planting 28,117 trees, outplanting 38,156 corals, investing in programmes that see to the safe hatch of 221,392 sea turtles, and supporting 23 marine and terrestrial protected areas.

The Earth Day initiative forms part of the Foundation’s ongoing work to support sustainable development—ensuring that environmental protection, community well-being, and economic stability advance together.