March 22, 2011 is the joint celebration of St. Maarten National Day of Trees and World Water Day. SIMARC, the St. Maarten Pride Foundation and GEBE will be planting a tree at the Belvedere Community Center to mark the St. Maarten National Day of Trees. Prime Minister, Sarah Wescott-Williams will be on site to plant the first tree. The community is invited to join the event.
The tree planting will be followed by a viewing of Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, whose answer to deforestation, soil erosion and lack of water was planting trees. Wangari Maathai won a Nobel peace prize for her work in founding the Greenbelt Movement making her the first environmentalist and first African women to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The documentary will be shown at the St. Maarten Jubilee Library at 7:30 p.m.
Then on March 26, 2011, the volunteers will be planting a tree at 10 community centers in Dutch Quarter, Cole Bay, Ebenezer, Middle Region, Pointe Blanche, Saunders, Simpson Bay, St. Peters, Philipsburg and Upper Princess Quarter.
The St. Maarten National Day of Trees events are sponsored by the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, Heavenly Waters new Eco-Friendly Water Bottle Line, and GEBE’s Save Some Green environmental program, a key part of the GEBE vision that strives to take the environment into account through community involvement.
Trees
St. Maarten National Day of Trees aims to create awareness of the historical, social and environmental importance of trees on St. Maarten and their contribution to our lives. Enhancing the biodiversity on St. Maarten through protecting our current trees and planting new ones is critical in preserving our history and culture for future generations.
Trees are both natural and cultural monuments for St. Maarten. The diverse origins of historical trees on our island, from all around the world, are a metaphor of St. Maarten’s diverse cultural heritage. Trees play a variety of important roles beyond the display of our natural beauty, as places for cultural gatherings, as iconic landmarks, for boat and house building, protecting against soil erosion, for food and fruits, and even for medicinal purposes. Trees are an essential part of our cultural heritage from the spiritual secrets of Baobab trees, to the impressive height of Silk Cotton trees, from the sweet fruits of the Tamarind, Mango and Genip trees, to the hard nuts of the Almond trees, from Mahogany and White Cedar used to build boats and houses, to the medicinal resins of the Red Gum trees, and from the freedom flowers of the Flamboyant, to the durability of the Sea Grape. The largest trees living on St. Maarten are, in fact, our oldest living ancestors for the island, so for that reason alone, they deserve our respect and protection. They are also a part of who we are as a community. Trees are important, valuable and essential to life as we know it.
Water
The Theme for World Water Day 2011 is Water for Cities, responding to the urban challenge. As St. Maarten becomes more populated and urbanized, the island’s water system has become inundated resulting in flooding and soil erosion. As the number of trees gets smaller, St. Maarten would need to increase sewage and storm water drainage channels to handle the increased water runoff. A natural solution is planting trees.
Trees are an important part of the water cycle. As water falls to earth, plants intercept or catch some of the water before it falls to the ground. Plants also put water back into the air through transpiration. When the sun shines on plants, tiny drops of water are released into the air.
Trees and other vegetation help storm water runoff to travel slowly and store water in soils. The deep root systems of trees and shrubs absorb storm water and stabilize shoreline soil to reduce erosion.
Trees reduce soil erosion and their roots increase soil permeability which reduced surface runoff of water from storms. Trees also act as natural filters, cleaning water runoff. Trees, shrubs and grasses capture sediments and pesticides in runoff as well as large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, which are pollutants to waterways.
People
SIMARC is also encouraging everyone to try to plant a tree on March 22nd, in your yard or at your school or business, for pride in our St. Maarten National Day of Trees.
Trees and water and people are partners; each one influences the quality of the other. Trees need water for life and water needs trees for quality. An abundance of both improve our quality of life. So plant a tree on March 22 and make a difference in our community.
