Planning and Development Minister Pennelope Beckles-Robinson is optimistic that the launch of a pollinator garden programme will go a long way towards building environmental resilience while enhancing food security.
Beckles-Robinson made the remarks at the launch of a pollinator garden at the UWI Life Sciences Department, St Augustine, on Friday, as she praised the staff and their team for researching and organising the programme.
The garden aims to support and maintain pollinators like insects and birds by attracting them with pollen and nectar. This ensures the creatures remain in the area to help with pollination for food production.
The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net) is expected to work closely with UWI in offering guidance on the necessary elements of a primary pollinator garden.
Beckles-Robinson said the launch of the garden was the first step towards protecting ecosystems by enriching natural processes.
Referring to a 2019 study by the University of Sydney, Australia, which reported that global insect populations were being reduced at an annual rate of 2.5 per cent, Beckles-Robinson said such data was troubling, as pollinators played a crucial role in food security.
Despite this, she said, government and academia were committed to addressing these concerns, and she was confident such a programme would make a difference in mitigating the loss of pollinators.
“The establishment of a pollinator garden represents a space where research may be conducted to map the interaction between pollinator species and flowering plants, enabling us to better understand which plants engender pollinator populations, as well as the mechanisms by which this occurs, and to provide an opportunity to comprehensively catalogue our various taxa of pollinators.
“Such knowledge helps amplify efforts in reforestation and agriculture to bring about positive ecological change and improve food production both in terms of quality and volume. TT has a well founded reputation for the production of world-class honey and cocoa, and this is due in no small part to the output of our pollinators.
“To address this, we must protect and enhance our forested areas, seek to restore or rehabilitate degraded lands, and, in urbanised settlements, create green spaces to act as refuges for pollinators.”
Taking small steps such as establishing pollinator gardens, she said, created “a feeder system which may reinforce our larger natural areas, building resilience in the process.
“Simple and small-scale initiatives add up over time and not only help change our environment for the better, but also have the effect of changing mindsets and behaviours.”
She said the launch of the garden was in keeping with TT’s commitment to the environment, especially as this country was a signatory to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
[caption id="attachment_1022603" align="alignnone" width="1024"] From left: Minister of Planning and Development Pennelope Beckles, UWI St Augustine Principal Rose-Marie Belle Antoine and
