On Thursday, July 16th, 15 young men from MALE participated in first mangrove restoration planting from the CAMS (Centre for Applied Marine Studies) mangrove nursery at the HLSCC. Starting off this momentous event, Minister Vincent Wheatley spoke to the youth about mangroves and our need to restore and protect them. J’Kyla Rogers and Alexia Penn, interns to the mangrove nursery project, led the youth group through educational games they designed specifically for the CAMS mangrove project. These included Heads-Up, Charades, and Tree of Life all centered on aspects of mangrove ecosystems, how they are uniquely able to live in constantly wet, salty soil, their role in protecting us from storms and sustaining our blue economy.
The young men of M.A.L.E visited the still-developing mangrove nursery at HLSCC, where the very first red mangrove propagules were brought into culture six weeks ago. These propagules, nursed in floating bucket arrays suspended in Paraquita Bay Lagoon, were just starting to show first leaves and developed roots.
Dr. Lianna Jarecki, Head of Maritime and Marine Studies and Director of the mangrove nursery, with assistance from mangrove nursery interns, Ms. Rogers, Ms. Penn, and mangrove technician Joseph Wells, led the youth to plant these first mangrove seedlings. In all, 54 seedlings were planted to restore a previously damaged site at the inner lagoon at Paraquita Bay. In 2018, an excavator removing a large, grounded catamaran had cleared about two acres of mangroves at the same location. Since then, mangroves have not grown back. While Dr. Jarecki does not expect all 54 seedlings to survive, she believes that enough will thrive to cover the damaged shoreline. Interns to the project will monitor the seedlings’ growth over the next five weeks.
The CAMS mangrove nursery and internship programme is funded by a grant from Unite BVI and The Falconwood Foundation. It is partnered with the Jost van Dyke Preservation Society and with the wider community through the Ministry of Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration, local youth groups, and many public and private entities that have stepped up to help get this resilience-building project off the ground. Commercial Dive Services has been especially generous in early building stages by clearing remaining hurricane debris, creating anchoring posts for the floating bucket nursery, and rebuilding the KATS dock.