Get Involved - Arbor Day
“ Together, Re-vegetate & Educate to Ensure earths Survival”
National Arbor Day is an annual event in Barbados, held on September 22nd, to encourage persons to plant trees. The first Arbor Day was celebrated in Nebraska in 1872. However the earliest records in Barbados report the first local celebration on the island on November 09, 1907.
Many years later, in 1997, the National Conservation Commission relaunched National Arbor Day and with the assistance of several agencies (Barbados National Trust, Barbados 4H Foundation, Coastal Zone Management, The Environment Unit, Soil Conservation Unit & U.W.I) formed the National Arbor Day Committee to oversee the co-ordination of this national event.
The primary focus at this time is encouraging tree planting, promoting the importance of trees and the vital part they play in our lives. However, it must be stressed that the object is not to plant trees and then forget that good will until the same time next year. This exercise can only be productive if subsequent to the planting, the young trees are periodically maintained and the necessary care given to the other established trees.
Trees serve many purposes; their benefits can be grouped into the following categories: Social, Community, Environmental and Economic.
- Beauty & Shade
- Screen objectionable views
- Sound buffers
- Recreational areas
- Filter dust and pollen
- Enhance architecture
- Carbon Dioxide sinks. (One acre of forest absorbs 6tons of Carbon Dioxide and emits 4tons of oxygen)
- Energy conservation (less demand for air conditioning)
- Improved water quality, less runoff and erosion
- Habitat for animals, birds and other micro-organisms
- Increase marketability of domestic and commercial property
- Food source
- IT IS A GOOD THING TO DO
How Can I Get Involved?
- Initiate a beautification programme for your home, school and/or community
- Research and document information on interesting trees found in Barbados. Eg. The Sand Box, The Baobab and Silk Cotton Tree (Secondary/Primary school students, stay tuned for information on our exciting projects starting September 2004)
- Collect some tree seeds, germinate them in a classroom and plant out the seedlings.
- Identify and label all trees in your school or community
- Use mediums available (internet, library etc.) to learn more about trees
- Encourage family and friends to become involved
- Interested persons, social, school & community groups can contact the Arbor Day Committee at the National Conservation Commission.
For The Love of Nature and The Future of Mankind
Arbor Day events allow us a great opportunity to give back to the environment some of what we have used. In so doing, we are creating an environment that is healthy, aesthetically pleasing and gratifying for all. If we fail to fulfill this moral obligation, we will be responsible for the untimely demise of mankind by creating an uninhabitable environment. LOVE NATURE - CHOOSE LIFE
