Environmental research

Million Hour Palm, is a project designed to invest 1 million man hours in an environmental project by creating or enhancing green spaces in all communities around Dominica. Dominica has been dubbed the nature island of the Caribbean due to its lush green environment and many natural attractions. However the topography of the island makes it prone to a number of natural disasters such as floods, landslides and erosion. Dominica s forest also contains a wide variety of flowers and ferns some of which are considered to be indigenous to the island and also endangered. Prompted by a realization that land erosion and floods were increasing and occurred in many parts of the country side, the government of Dominica issued a call two years ago for Dominicans to undertake a natural beautification and environmental protection program in order to preserve the pristine environment of the nature island. After two years very little has been achieved thus this project speaks to the youth of Dominica to get involved in a two year program which will respond to the need to mitigate against land erosion while creating green spaces that will in turn conserve and enhance the natural environment. The project will also seek to promote Dominica s world heritage sites (the Morne Trois Piton National Park) and to draw attention to the needs to protect the habitats of many of our wildlife species some of which are quickly moving to extinction. 1.2. Organizational Background and Capacity to implement the Project: Generation of Opportunities (GO) Inc. is a non-partisan, non-profit, non-denominational regional youth organisation that develops youth holistically. It is a legally registered entity under the laws of the Commonwealth of Dominica and has conducted many local and regional programs. Generation of Opportunities is run by a regional board of directors that stem from various islands in the region namely, St. Kitts, Grenada, Guyana, Guadeloupe, St. Vincent and Dominica. It is the parent to the branches that are operational on other islands and here in Dominica which bears the name of their country (GO Dominica). GO Dominica is also functional by a local board of directors that are versed in various fields, the organisation has been very successful in conducting several regional projects through partnerships with other NGOs. GO continues to form partnerships and now facilitates programs on behalf of a global network. 1.3. Project Objectives and Expected Results: Million Hour Tree Planting, has already sensitized scores of youth organisations around the country including Scouts, Girl Guides, churches, and sports groups, as well as village councils and P.T.A s to 10 participate in the program. The project has also been endorsed by various government ministries including the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, ministry of Youth, the ministry of Public Works and ministry of Tourism. The main objective of the project is to allow the youth of the country to invest 1 million man hours into beautifying Dominica while creating green spaces in all communities around Dominica. Due to its lush green environment and many natural attractions, the need to preserve the topography of the island is of key importance as the land is prone to natural disasters such as floods, landslides and erosion. The project will establish 12 plant nurseries around the island to propagate exotic plants for beautification and land protection. Two agronomists one tourism officer as well as three forest officers have agreed to be attached to the steering committee, in order to assist in the management of the project and advice on the best practise to be employed in the execution of the activities. They have also committed to providing training in plant propagation and establishment of forest trees and plants. This is particularly important in regards to the activities to be undertaken within the natural parks of Dominica. Various village and Urban councils will be sensitized to work in collaboration with the youth organisations within their respective communities to identify areas where green spaces and beautification hedges will be established, individual families will be encouraged to beautify their home surroundings which will culminate in a natural village beautification competition to later be judged at various levels and promoted throughout the media and throughout the life of the project. It is expected that the results shown at the end of the project will be phenomenal as the youth and villages will be proud to have invested one Million man hours towards the beautification of their country. The project would have also served to preserve the land from erosion and depravation. 1.4. Description of Project Activities This project focuses on the planting of trees, plants, scrubs and various other exotic plants in the green spaces created along the coast, inland, and in various communities particularly at the entrance and exit of villages and main roads across the island. The project will involve youth from across the island and get them involved with after school activities, that will keep them occupied and to help build credits for graduation among the 5th formers and college graduates. The project will also teach the participants propagation methods as well as strategies for the maintenance of programmes geared towards environmental preservation. Training programs are also to be undertaken in the areas of team building and leadership. This will be geared t

Dominica