Trees & Plants
Placed In The Ground
About One Tree
One Tree for Every Bajan gives everyone the opportunity to improve their environment, grow food and build climate resilience!
Since the program’s launch in January 2019, we have been working with businesses, schools, communities and various special interest groups to co-create a better future for Barbados and the planet.
We have a big task ahead of us, planting One Tree for Every Bajan, 285,000 trees, is no small feat.
We need to get everyone on board! We need to create a movement, in which everyone is excited about putting trees in the ground and building a better Barbados and world for all.
The journey
Our story started in 2016 with the catalyzing of corporate social responsibility, academic and community resources to join WIRRED in the much-needed work of restoring the fragile dune ecosystem of Walkers Beach, the largest nesting site for the giant, endangered Leatherback Turtle on the East Coast, St. Andrew.
In the first phase of the Walkers Beach Dune Restoration Project we collaborated with Bellairs Research Institute of McGill University, Barbados Sea Turtle Project, National Conservation Commission, Waste 0, Coastal Zone Management Unit, UNDP, Slow Fish Barbados and the Caribbean Permaculture Research Institute (CPRI) to develop a sound scientific methodology for restoration.
Through the collective effort of WIRRED and our project partners, including the public, we set out to plant the indigenous trees which have specific adaptations to the beach environment and are needed to restore the fragile dune ecosystem of Walkers Beach.
Understanding the vital role of trees as carbon sequesters, habitat builders and biodiversity conservers, we saw the need to systematically expand the One Tree project to include Walkers Reserve and community spaces all over Barbados.
To this end, we are constantly reevaluating our planting patterns and looking for new innovative ways to keep our trees protected and alive.
As the project continues to develop into community spaces outside of Walkers Reserve we will be looking for three (3) critical enabling factors:
1) irrigation (water- lots of it!),
2) protection from animals and other threats and
3) periodic supervision to ensure that our plants get the care they need.
Thank You Cable and Wireless Foundation & Flow Barbados!
Partnership for Goals
Through our partnership with the Cable and Wireless Foundation & Flow Barbados, we were able to implement this technological interface launched in September 2020. We intend to use this platform to virtually engage local, regional and international participants and allow stakeholders, including the public, to track how many trees are planted on the island and get involved in the tree planting movement in a variety of ways.
Through our collaboration with the Cable and Wireless Foundation & Flow Barbados, the One Tree for the Every Bajan Program is now equipped to engage multiple audiences including the corporate social responsibility of the private sector. We are focused on:
- Building an environmentally focused employee fulfillment program that not only includes tree planting but also short and informative workshops through our Take Action Series.
- Developing a local socially responsible volunteerism program tied to tree planting and supporting the environment, with the capacity to scale regionally and internationally by linking this initiative to other programs, universities, institutions and the tourism sector locally and abroad.
- Incorporating the creative sector in the tree planting movement through engagement and advocacy programs such as Art for Trees.
Want to find more about how you can empower your employees through the Take Action Workshop Series or how you can connect to the environment through art and design contact us today!