Curtain comes down on Forestry Summer Programme

The Forestry Department completed its annual Forestry Summer Programme, once again with youth mainly from the rural communities. The 2016 Summer Programme ran for one week, from August 8 to 12, for children spanning the villages from Rabacca to Sandy Bay.

The programme was held at the Agricultural Training Institute at Rabacca, under the theme “Climate Change – Its effect on our livelihoods and the environment.”{{more}}

According to the coordinator, forestry officer Joel Poyer, the purpose of the summer programme is to expose the youth to the importance of the forests and their environs to our livelihood and their vulnerability to the impact of climate change, especially the potential effects of global warming.

Poyer added that the intention of the summer programme is to create an understanding of how susceptible the forests are to this phenomenon, and young people’s responsibility, as future guardians of the forest, to be aware of some of the things they can do to reduce and possibly reverse the impacts.

In addition to the indoor sessions, the 30 youths were taken on a number of field trips to some of the areas formerly affected by extreme weather systems to view some of the measures being put in place by the Department, especially to reduce the impact on our wildlife and waterways. They also visited one of the proposed sites of the geothermal project now being implemented in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The field trips were extended to the agro-forest plot at Kissme, where a variety of fruit trees are maintained for the parrots, other birds and reptiles; the water distribution and filtering station at Perseverance, where they also observed the changing course of the river due to the storm systems of 2011 and 2013 and the subsequent regeneration of the forests also affected by these systems.

At the culmination of the programme, the youths took the opportunity to express their gratitude for having been a part of it, especially having been made aware of a number of things formerly taken for granted. They were issued a certificate of attendance.

The programme was sponsored by GECCU, ECGC, Digicel, Allan’s Family Bakery and island Recycling Inc. In addition, a quantity of school supplies to assist the children in the new school year was donated by GECCU. The Forestry Department expresses gratitude to the parents, guardians, children and sponsors for the success of the programme.