Agro Forestry

Agro forestry was viewed by the framers of the programme as an opportunity to increase food production and as such a number of groups cultivatedseveral food crops. In Tobago, groups have been doing so as part of their reforestation activity.

Groups involved in Agro-Forestry are as follows:

• Argyle Group - Bananas, Medicinal Herbs
• Speyside - Pumpkin, Pigeon Peas, Paw Paw, Guava, West IndianCherry.
• Belle Garden - Pigeon Peas, Cassava, Sorrel Sangre Grande
• Improvement - Sweet Peppers, Melongene
• Penal Wetlands - Yams, Cassava
• Bank Village - Hot and Sweet peppers, Ochro, Pigeon Peas, Pumpkin.
• Women of Vision - Pigeon Peas
• Pierre Phillip - Bodi, Melongene, Ochro, Peppers,  Tomatoes.

Reforestation, Watershed and Park Maintenance

North Zone

Reforestation/Watershed Rehabilitation
This zone extends from the Western extremity of the Northern range to La Fillette and consists of twenty (20) groups employing up to seven hundred (700) people.  Of the twenty (20) groups, seventeen (17) work on severely denuded/degraded lands, two (2) on less degraded sites engaged in enrichment planting and one (1) in trail clearing and maintenance.

Acreage (acres) planted in North Zone to date is 922.8.Eighteen different forestspecies were planted, the more prevalent species were Mahogany, Yellow Poui, Local Cedar, Apamate, Olivier, Cypre and Mahoe.

Hiking Trail Clearing and Maintenance
The Maracas Bay United Sports and Cultural Organisation (MABUSCO), the only group attached to this zone involved in this activity,has cleared and maintained the 4.4 miles hiking and branch trails from Santa Cruz through to Maracas Beach area.

The work essentially involved:

• Clearing of low hanging branches and vegetation;
• Removal of fallen trees and branches;
• Clearing of minor landslides;
• Brush cutting of foot paths, borders and tracks;
• Beach cleaning and clearing by collection and removal of garbage;
• Tree replanting.

South Zone

Reforestation/Watershed Rehabilitation
This zone covers an area comprising the lower western quarter of Trinidad.  It comprises eighteen (18) groups from Carlsen Field in the central area to Cedros near the south-western peninsula.  Ten (10) are involved in reforestation type work. Twenty-six (26) different species were used on the Southern reforestation sites, the more prevalent species in terms of quantity were Mahogany, Olivier,Local Cedar, Mahoe, Apamate, Serrette and Yellow Poui. To date, 2760 acreswere planted in the South Zone.Park maintenance undertaken by south zone groups - 163.4 acres.

East Zone

Reforestation and Watershed Rehabilitation
This zone which comprises the entire eastern section of Trinidad from Grande Riviere in the north, to Mayaro and Rio Claro in the south, currently has fourteen (14) contracted groups with a total of 490 workers.  Twelve groups are fully involved in reforestation and watershed rehabilitation operations, one is partially involved in this work and partially involved in clearing and re-establishing nature/hiking trails. Acreage planted in East Zone to date is3027. Thirty-two (32) different species so far have been used on the Eastern reforestation sites, the more prevalent species in terms of quantity were Olivier, Serrette, Mahoe, Cajuca, Mahogany, Apamate and Angelin.

Tobago

Reforestation and Watershed Rehabilitation
The three groups in Tobago are Belle Garden Enhancers for the Improvement of the Environment, Speyside Village Council and Argyle Village Environment and Protection Group.   In addition to reforestation and watershed management activities, the latter two groups are involved in trail development and maintenance to provide access to interpretative sites for the benefit of Eco-Tourism activity. Acreage planted in Tobago to date–142.

Seedling Production

Seedling production isat our Maloney Nursery in conjunction with a group under the control of the National Congress of Incorporated Baptists of Trinidad and Tobago.  The nursery has the capability to produce approximately 200,000 seedlings annually.

The dominant species produced were:-

One of the objectives of the Programme is to encourage and assist those group members who desire to become financially self-sufficient/independent through training in a field of their interest, to enable them to move on to better paying jobs or to become self-employed.  Training is also planned to aid the output and quality of the Reforestation and Watershed Rehabilitation work.  Group members are encouraged to attend courses of their interest given by the Farmers Training Centre and the Community Development Division, which are free to the public.

Enterprise Development

NRWRP was designed to be of a ten-year duration and stakeholder groups are strongly advised to embark on enterprise ventures to ensure a level of sustainability following the expiration of the reforestation activity.

Initially activities are being undertaken in the following areas and/or communities: