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Cavaliers residents commit to better environmental practices

By Avia Ustanny, Freelance Writer

Kingston, 27 March 2006 (Panos) - Some of the hillsides in the farming community of Cavaliers, St Andrew are deeply scarred by old-style farming methods. In some spots the land is abandoned, stripped of vegetation and left bare. Landslides proliferate where the land was once covered by heavy greenery.

But that will soon change.

The residents have taken the first steps to address the problems in their community.
They met recently with the Women’s Outreach and Resource Centre (WROC) to host an environmental forum to formulate strategies to reverse the degradation of once fruitful and well watered land.

“We need to be educated about how to preserve the trees,” said Alvin Lobban, a farmer from Cavaliers, while highlighting some of the problems contributing to environmental degradation in his community.

“When they clean the land for farming they strip it too much. They cut down all the trees, all the topsoil wash away. These are things that need to change,” he explained.

Farmers in Cavaliers and the nearby Parkes Road pride themselves on being able to feed their own. Huge yams and long-fingered bananas are grown in every nook and cranny, every gully and hillside. This is how they put food on the tables.

Both communities are located in the Rio Cobre watershed and have a 30-year average of 200 mm of rainfall.

According to Lisa Kirkland of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), those who live in the area must begin to do things differently if they want to rehabilitate the land and rescue their water supply.

In Cavaliers, she said, bush fires, charcoal burning, deforestation, the washing of clothes and vehicles in the river and grazing of animals on the river banks have contributed to the loss of soil cover, land slippages and river contamination which continue to occur.

She added that degradation of the environment has also been caused by the illegal quarrying and the construction of houses without proper approval.

“The collective impact of these activities is high land slippage and soil erosion which in turn has degraded the watershed area,” she said.

Kirkland advised residents that the soil should never be left bare as coverage with plants was needed to prevent erosion. If the soil was left bare, she said, rain and wind will cause erosion, leading to eroded material which goes directly into waterways, rivers and streams. This, she said, has “direct implications for biodiversity depletion and sedimentation.”

In response the residents said that they would be seeking information on new farming methods which do not contribute to land degradation. They have also committed to the replanting of trees to reverse the problem of deforestation and landslides. They also specifically requested assistance in training for water, rain water harvesting as well as in the contouring of land and technique.

Interventions like these directly benefit the community which experiences water shortage during drought.

“…during ‘dry season’ the water levels cannot supply everyone in the community. It creates a strain,” says Lobban.

At the same time, residents were asked by the NSWMA representatives to separate their waste into non-biodegradable and biodegradable components, using whatever would rot for compost. The solid waste management authority said that it would work out with them a schedule for the collection of non-biodegradable rubbish.

Residents were also advised by the NSWMA that the habit of depositing waste in the river would be harmful both directly and indirectly to their health. Residents suggested that idle lands in the community could be used for the development of compost heap replanting of trees.

WROC has given its commitment to be involved in action committee development. WROC had partnered with the Cavaliers Parkes Road Ginger Processors Association to host the forum for which the objectives were to build awareness in the community on the causes and impact of land degradation, and to encourage the community to partner with the agencies in addressing the issues.

WROC is a partner with the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean that addresses the environmental issues of Small Island Developing States. The Cavliers project was implemented at a cost of US$2500. According to Stephanie Hutchinson, WROC programme coordinator, her organization would be seeking additional funds to implement the project for rainwater harvesting, land contouring and replanting of trees.

Also present at the environmental forum were representatives from the Social Development Commission and the National Water Commission.