May 21, 2009…. To mark International Day of Biological Diversity being celebrated, Friday May 22, 2009, the Environment Division will hold a tree planting exercise at the Mount St. John’s Medical Centre.
Twelve trees are earmarked for planting. Honorable Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, the Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Housing and Environment Hilson Baptiste and Minister of State within the Ministry of Agriculture Chanlah Codrington are among the dignitaries to plant a tree.
The aim of the exercise is to enhance our local biodiversity.
Environment Education Officer Arica Hill explains that trees not only provide ground cover, they attract butterflies through their nectar-rich flowers and their fruits attract birds.
“The Environment Division takes this opportunity to encourage horticulturalists and persons employed within the landscaping field, importers of goods, customs officers and the general public, to partner with us in the work of preserving our local biodiversity by ensuring that invasive alien species are not introduced,” said Hill.
The Environment Education Officer added Antigua and to a lesser extent Barbuda, have been impacted by the presence of invasive alien species such as the small Indian mongoose, the lemon grass, the Pink Hibiscus Mealy Bug, the fire ants and more recently the Cuban Tree Frog.
In recent years, their occurrence has increased and will continue to do so due to international trade, transport, travel and tourism.
It is imperative, therefore, to find practical solutions to these problems since invasive alien species have no natural predators and can spread easily. Eradication programmes tend to be costly and are often impractical; hence there is need for early detection through monitoring and control in areas where introductions are likely.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of life forms in a given area and is categorized in terms of the numbers of species, the variety of plant and animal communities and their genetic variability.
Invasive Alien Species are species that are introduced and spread outside their natural habitat, effectively destroying or significantly reducing local species, which in turn affect the ecological and economic well-being of countries.
This year, the Convention on Biological Diversity has chosen to look specifically at Invasive Alien Species.
