16 participants graduated with certificates in Bamboo, Wiess and Pine crafting training at the St Mark’s Human Resource Centre on Wednesday, 13 September 2017.
This was a joint effort by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (ICCAS), Government of Grenada and the Sunset Craft and Furniture Enterprise (SCFE). The training will allow participants to successfully venture into the Bamboo, Weiss and Pine craft trade as an alternative livelihood in adapting to the impacts of Climate Change in the parish of St Mark.
Permanent Secretary for Agriculture Lands, Forestry, and the Environment Merina Jessamy brought greeting on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, intertwining craft and agriculture as the way forward for Grenada. She also mentioned the timeliness in completing this project as it products will be showcased at the Agribusiness Expo at the Grenada Trade Centre from 28 September – 1 October. Emphasis was placed on the importance of skill in this area, as it will improve the lives of persons within the community.
Using invasive species such as bamboo is a remarkable potency for driving economic structure in vulnerable countries. With an increasing population and the depletion of vulnerable forests, plants like mahogany and blue mahoe will soon have to be replaced by bamboo to protect our forest and environment, create sustainable livelihoods and reduce the impacts of climate change for small islands as Grenada.
Training commenced in May for 6 weeks under the expertise of Reynold Fletcher and Andre Jones who both hail from the parish of St Andrew.
Two days of training followed in capacity building, product development and marketing, and forming of cooperatives conducted by the Grenada, Tourism Authority, Ministry of Cooperatives and Dawne Mark from the UNDP/ICCAS. Crafts on display included baskets, lampshades, tablemats, soap dishes, etc. Plans are in the making to market craft products to shops and hotels.
This activity is part of the Climate Change Education Awareness project currently implemented by the Environment Unit at the Ministry of Agriculture, on behalf of, and with funding from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) under its International Climate Initiative (IKI), to assist Grenada to adapt climate change.
UNDP-ICCAS Offices
Ministry of Agriculture
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On the surface, this may seem like a good option, but my experience combatting invasive species as a profession tells me that it’s a horrible idea. You cannot simply replace trees for bamboo, it most likely puts the entire ecosystem at risk. I can’t think of one example where the environment has benefitted from an invasive species.