Minister Boyce was speaking to a group which included David Spieler representing the Flower Forest and Earthworks pottery, Mr Reginald Medford – Medford’s Mahogany, Mr Dave Scantlebury – MTW, Mr Nigel Jones – Natural Heritage Department (NHD), Mr Abdul Pandoor – Consulting Engineer to the Warrens Project, Dr John Webster – Landscape Designer, Mr Kammie Holder – PRO for the Future Centre Trust, Permanent Secretary Mr Lionel Nurse, Mr Steve Devonish – Natural Heritage Department, Mr Mark Brathwaite – Consulting Landscape Architect to NHD and myself. This was in fact the second meeting called in recent weeks, with Dr Karl Watson and Ms Mia Mottley attending the previous meeting to offer their views.

It would appear that the main reason for the take down of the tree is related to cost. The landowner, after consultation with the Ministry, requested a sum of millions, which would in fact mean the acquisition of the entire land space surrounding the tree.

The discussion of the tree was brought to the attention of the FCT earlier this year with a large push on social media sites including Facebook, by Mr Kammie Holder. Mr Holder has pursued the matter since this time and has been a keen advocate for the tree.

During the meeting, the Minister highlighted the plans for the entire Warrens area and explained that the aim of the MTW was in fact “not to build as many roundabouts in Barbados, but to enable the traffic to move through Warrens in a speedy way.” Mr Steve Devonish of the NHD then explained the plan for green spaces and tree planting within the area, with specifics of species in each area indicated by Mr Brathwaite.

One main theme that arose from the discussion was the amount of privately owned land in Warrens which could prevent the area being transformed into a much greener thoroughfare in the future. Those from the private sector were encouraged to seek out land owners and lobby them to consider including trees in their various site plans.

So for now, the Silk Cotton Tree will be removed in short time. There are plans, depending on the condition of the tree, to use the trunk as a memorial to centenarians in the area and to re-use as much of the tree as possible. The support over the past ten or so months has not gone unnoticed by the Ministry with Minister Boyce explaining the plan to embrace the BAC Project – ‘Beyond Asphalt and Concrete’- as a way forward for any future road developments. They will be seeking means and ways to include as much green planning in the initial stages as possible to ensure reference to the physical environment and planting back of greenery.

Thank you Minister Boyce for taking the time to listen to the concerns of the people and we look forward to hearing more from the Ministry as it plans to plant more trees in the area including 3 silk cottons to assist in carbon offsets in the future for the tree that needs to be removed.

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Ellerton Primary School’s past Principal, Mrs Barker and is an avid recycler. In her last few months at the school, she applied to the programme for a Centre to be installed at Ellerton. It took some time, and through Mrs Barker’s persistence and love for the school, the centre was officially launched by local MP, Dr The Honourable Esther Byer-Suckoo (or Auntie Dr Esther as she is often referred to by the students and children of the area!) and dignitaries. The launch as was attended by representatives from both the Ministry of Education and Environment, the FCT and of course Staff, Students and Teachers of the school.

Ellerton Primary is the first government school to receive a Centre under this initiative and it is such a wonderful thing to be able to assist such a willing and eager team in the achievement of recycling goals as the team at Ellerton.

We thank all who made the time to be present for the occasion and wish Ellerton the very best of luck as they work to educate their school community and by extension, the Ellerton Community, on the benefits of recycling.

Thanks to Shawn Cumberbatch of Barbados Today and Kerri Gooding from The Advocate for their coverage seen here:

Thanks to Barbados Today for their coverage here

Thanks also for the coverage here – Ellerton Primary with the Advocate

Here are some of the images from the event from the FCT Roving Camera folks – on this day Ayana Moosa and Nicole Garofano!

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Right now we are working on refining the list of volunteer offers from the previous two years with the intention of contacting those persons for an update on their current ability to assist. These folks will then be matched with opportunities for volunteers within the current project areas. Cecilia will then put the volunteers in touch with the Project Coordinators who will review the task at hand.

Cecilia can be contacted on her FCT phone which was donated by Digicel earlier this year as part of the Digicel package on 836 6188 or by email to volunteer@futurecentretrust.org

If you would like to volunteer with the FCT, please download the form found on this page: http://futurecentretrust.org/main/resource-centre and then either scan and email to Cecilia’s address or send it to the FCT Resource Centre and we will forward the information on.

Thanks in advance for your patience as Cecilia gets herself aligned with all of the current work and is then able to get in touch with you.

Welcome Cecilia!

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If you are in the St Thomas area over the weekend, drop your washed out, lids off recyclables to the FCT Recycling Area in the carpark of our Little Edgehill property. You will see the FCT sign on the road and the signs for the area!

Our weekly pick up needs to be worth it for B’s! Make things easy for yourself and make a contribution to the FCT with your clean recyclables!

This area accepts mostly food grade items, but for everything else that can be recycled, check our link here: http://futurecentretrust.org/main/resource-centre.

Thanks in advance for your contribution!

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After some three weeks of work by our tiler, Rusty, based on the design work of David Spieler, the mural was ready to be unveiled. But how to unveil a 100+foot piece of artwork on a public wall?

Cover it with reel end newsprint from the Nation Publishing of course! After some 45 minutes Vicky, Ayana and Nicole managed to tape up the mural with paper that will of course be recycled, in order to have a special ceremony where children’s unwrapping skills were the order of the day!

Seen here, thanks to the photography of Tracey Simpson, children were more than happy to do the unwrapping!

The ‘unwrapping’ of the mural followed a formal ceremony where Dr Julia Horrocks, Director of the Barbados Sea Turtle Project spoke of the importance of Barbados’ role in conserving the sea turtle habitats and indeed the species, which is the focus of the mural project. Dr Leo Brewster , Director of the Coastal Zone Management unit, complimented the concept and was happy to see a solution to the ‘blank wall’ that was part of the Boardwalks’ development, and Mr Tyrone Lowe, Chairman of the National Conservation Commission spoke of the continuing partnership with the FCT with this project no exception.

All who attended the ceremony and the ‘unwrapping’ felt the sense of a worthwhile project being completed for generations to come, of both visitors to Barbados and locals alike, to admire.

It is with thanks to our sponsors and partners to this project that it was able to be taken from idea to reality:

• David Spieler
• Earthworks Pottery
• Tourism Development Corporation

Gold Partners:

• KPMG
• Barbados Fertility Centre

Silver Partners:

• Blakeys Bar and Restaurant
• Art Splash Cafe
• Tapas Restaurant

And of course our FCT Platinum Sponsor, Barbados Light and Power Co Ltd

Thanks also to our media partners on the day, The Barbados Advocate (Thanks to Ms Kerri Gooding) and to Barbados Today (Thanks to Mr Shawn Cumberbatch) as seen in this image.

Thank you to everyone for enabling such a beautifully educational landmark!

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Project Coordinator, Lani Edghill, has been hard at work on this project for some months with a number of assistant interns, initially from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, – students Tanya King and Simonique Welch and supplemented by students from the Bellairs Research Institute Field Studies Semester out of McGill University, Laura Pinkham, Adrienne Pacini and Chris Wong. Also joining the team is Ayana Moosa, who has been working with the FCT in a number of roles since March, and has found an appropriate avenue for her interest in recycling in this project.

The Travel Foundation has this to say on the concept and their goals for this initiative:

“The Travel Foundation has been working with hoteliers in the Caribbean since 2009 on a project to save water and energy,  called ‘Switch off, Save Big’. This project assisted hoteliers in reducing their water and energy consumption and,  to date, collectively the hotels have saved close to £1 million on their water and energy bills. This has resulted in them being able to utilize the savings in other areas of their businesses, including retention of staff.

In May 2011, the Travel Foundation partnered with The Future Centre Trust, Barbados,  and extended the programme to include waste prevention and reduction. The partnership aims to ensure that hoteliers receive the relevant tools required to implement a waste prevention programme in their hotel. This project will run until May 2012, providing training on implementing waste reduction measures and recommendations.

It is estimated that by implementing the reduction measures, hoteliers can reduce their overall waste by 10%. This can also have a positive impact in terms of reduction on the hotel’s overall expenditure. All hotels involved in the project will receive a final waste audit report, along with their reduction comparisons over the one year period.

Hoteliers interested in reducing their water, waste and energy consumption should visit www.thetravelfoundation.org.uk/greener-accommodations for free online tools.

This project is part of a range of water, energy and waste reduction initiatives run by the Travel Foundation. The Travel Foundation is a UK charity that cares for the places we love to visit. You can find out more at www.thetravelfoundation.org.uk

The project has so far completed work at the following hotels, each in different stages:

• Dover Beach Hotel
• Divi Southwinds Hotel
• Southern Palms Hotel
• Plum Tree
• Coconut Court
• Accra Beach Hotel
• Bougainvillea Hotel
• Crystal Cove
• Worthing Court
• Butterfly Beach

We look forward to seeing some major reductions of waste that would otherwise head to the landfill from this project with a minimum of 50% of waste audited thus far, recoverable for composting or recycling.

Thanks to Lani for leading the way on this one and for all of our student contributions and to Susan Mahon and Jill Parlee of the Bellairs Research Institute for their support and recommendation of this project to the McGill students for this year.

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Today I was fortunate enough to experience ‘A Ride Down Memory Lane’ – a tour planned under the auspice of the Barbados chapter of the International Council of Museums or ICOM for short. Chair of the Barbados National Committee, Ms Alison Callender, organised the tour as a second offering to the public of Barbados to increase their options of what could be called Cultural and/or Heritage Tourism.

“It all started from the response International Museum Day which was celebrated on May 18 this year”, explained Ms Callender. “We had a great response to a tour of Historic Bridgetown and so we decided to develop a tour to the north of Barbados, which is what we have experienced today”, she added. “From here, we will take the feedback and look to develop other products under the ICOM banner to help expand the opportunities for locals and visitors to learn more of the culture and heritage of Barbados.”

Today’s tour took in many sites with anecdotal stories matched with facts provided by Dr Henry Fraser, tour guide for the day. He pointed out areas of interest along the drive to St George via Welches, and My Lords Hill, including St George Parish Church, Gun Hill and the Groves Plantation now known for Cotton Processing and the Sugar Cane Breeding Station.

Our first stop was the Spring Vale Old Time Museum with a visit of the museum itself and an impromptu trail walk to the river that is at the rear of that property, lead by owner Mr Neval Greenidge. From there it was past Shorey Village and a drive by Morgan Lewis Mill onto St Nicholas Abbey, which was a delight! We were welcomed to the Abbey (and a tremendous applause for Larry Warren and team for their refurbishment of this property!); provided with some of the history to the house and the grounds; given the choice of fruit or local rum punch; provided a history of old time Barbados through previous owner the late Stephen Cave as narrator to a family movie; and a rum tasting explained by Simon Warren of St Nicholas Abbey 8 Year Old rum.

From there it was onto Speightstown, again via some interesting facts of Mile and a Quarter and other areas traversed on the way down the hill. Lunch was served at Fisherman’s Pub in Speightstown and it was here that Dr Henry Fraser, renowned Architectural and Heritage Consultant of Barbados, who was instrumental in the approval of the recent UNESCO World Heritage Nomination for Historic Bridgetown and the Garrison, discussed his passion for Cultural and Heritage Tourism. Dr Fraser sees a very real and attainable market for Cultural and Heritage Tourism of Barbados and sees the UNESCO approval as a great launching pad. He commented on the growing interest in this type of tourism globally and the benefits it can bring to a country so dependent on the tourism dollar. He proudly showed the nomination document and suggested, “All of Barbados needs to see this document! It is a historical reference that everyone should be introduced to. From there, possibly more Barbadians would become aware of these opportunities.”

Other members of the Museum Team joined us for the day, including Assistant Curator – Natural History Curator, Mr Kerron Hamblin, Researcher- Mr Miguel Pena and of course Allison, who is in fact the Curator for Art and Art History.

In my own experience, it was a revisit to the Spring Vale Museum and a new visit to St Nicholas Abbey. Of course, with the main focus of the FCT being our physical environment and its impacts to/from culture and heritage, it was an opportunity to revisit and review many of the physical environs that make up this country and by extension its tourist product.  There were so many areas still covered in litter, with illegal dumping of waste materials occurring along the roadside, which of course is something that is so easily controlled by respectful treatment of our natural spaces. Dr Fraser spoke also of the reason why there are Mahogany groves in Barbados… that in the past, land owners were given tax breaks if they took some of their land and planted it with mahogany trees! Given money, essentially, to plant trees – and great carbon sink trees!! Where can any of this forward thinking come from today? Dr Fraser also made mention of the importance of Sugar and its by products to the country from a tourism perspective, but also of course, sugar cane is a great fixer of soil and can be used these days for some many other products. It was great to see fields still with cane.

The team of ICOM, who today also included Ms Nerys Rudder, should be commended on this series. The tour was operated out of a ‘Rocklyn’ bus and the weather put it on for us! It was great to see Barbados in this way and I want to thank Allison and her team for continuing to push for a respect and understanding of the value of history to this country and by extension, all countries through the membership to ICOM.

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Nicole – 836 6163

Lani – 836 6189

Vicky – 836 6186

Ayana – 836 6187

Any questions, please get in touch! Thanks again to Digicel for their support of the FCT

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There is still more space available for further planting along that stretch and we look forward to more enquiries.

The planting was completed by October 5, with the sign going up in the last few days.

Thank you to Barney Gibbs and Peter Bynoe for coordinating this planting and to the TDC for their continued support of the Future Centre Trust.

This area of the ABC highway may look familiar now, but over the coming years, this stretch will be tree lined, thanks to the TDC and a private contributor.

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The one thing we have identified is that we need a Volunteer Volunteer Coordinator!

With the amount of work that we each have on, that is myself- Nicole Garofano as Administrative Director and Project Developer of the Bri and Luk Series and general manager of the FCT programme areas; Lani Edghill who is the Green Business Programme Coordinator+lead consultant on the Streamlining of Hotel Waste Management II Project with the Travel Foundation+mentor to a total of seven Bellairs Field Studies Semester Students; Vicky Merrick who is the Project Coordinator for the CoRe NETWORK Recycling Project and general avid contributor to the FCT; and Ayana Moosa, who is our newest member to the team assisting in the development of three (3) more CoRe NETWORK Recycling Centres, – well we have a lot on!

Not to mention Barney Gibbs and Peter Bynoe who are the Project Coordinators for the Future Trees Programme who volunteer their services to assist while running their own successsful businesses.

We also have another three projects under development and other events which need to be organised and arranged!

So yes, we would love the volunteer help, we just need to have someone help us direct these interests and time to the best possible recipient for mutual benefit.

Know someone that has some time on their hands and has experience managing people and who doesnt need to be paid??? Contact Nicole today on 836 6163 or email here at info@futurecentretrust.org.

You will find our Volunteer forms listed here  Volunteer Registration Sheet which you can fill out and scan back and we will study where your contribution is best served.

Lately, we have received the assistance of:

Natalie Wrighton – assisting with office organisation and newsletter development;

Kareem Yarde – assisting for 2 hours a week organising our library at this stage.

We also have Diana, Cecillia, Kate and other persons enquiring as to how they can assist. We also receive a lot of enquiries from schools where students need to earn hours to help their studies. By these lines, we have been working with CERMES at UWI over the past few months to try and develop a service learning component, which as we have found in the US, is a great contribution (and requirement) to students knowledge and experience base.

If you have some time to volunteer please email us at info@futurecentretrust.org. We look forward to hearing from folks who would also be interested in the Volunteer Coordinator role also to help everyone have the best experience from the FCT. Thanks!

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