On Saturday, July 27, 2024, various fruit trees will be made available to the public through the Public Entity Saba’s reforestation project. The distribution of these trees will take place at the Princess Juliana Sport Field in The Bottom between the hours of 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. The trees that will be available include mango, avocado, coffee, starfruit, orange, grapefruit, lime and moringa.
There are some guidelines set for the distribution of these trees. A maximum of 3 trees will be available per household. For persons who are unable to take their trees with them on the day of the event, the reforestation team will deliver the trees to their respective homes the following week. Persons who already received trees from the previous event are kindly requested to refrain from requesting trees again.
A goal of the reforestation project is to help increase local food production using fruit trees through traditional backyard farming practices. The PES aims to improve food security by increasing the amount of food that is produced on island through, for example, its reforestation project, the hydroponics farm project and the Hell’s Gate farm. Much of the food consumed on island, namely fruit, is grown from trees. These fruit, however, are imported. In order for Saba to become more self-sufficient, a necessary step is to grow a portion of the food that is consumed locally.
Last year, the PES carried out a pilot project to promote backyard farming. Through the pilot project, residents received financial assistance to help set up their own backyard farming systems to be able to grow food for themselves and their families. The distribution of these fruit trees is a continuation of the PES’s efforts to further increase local food production through the promotion of backyard farming, while helping to also reforest Saba.
