PLANTING a mango tree is a natural means of saving our land. That’s according to Head of Environmental Sustainability at the OECS Commission, Chamberlain Emmanuel, who spoke to the media at last Friday’s inaugural Saint Lucia Mango Festival.
Emmanuel also spoke about the many ways in which his unit is encouraging non-traditional uses of mangoes.
The Environmental Sustainability Head is also head of the OECS GCCA (Global Climate Change Alliance) Project, which comes under the European Union’s GCCA umbrella.
The primary objective of this project, Emmanuel said, is to “help support Climate Change Adaptation initiatives in the OECS islands.” He added that this Project is also going to help put in place initiatives that will “protect the land.”
Specific to Saint Lucia, Emmanuel explained, “What St. Lucia has decided to do in a very innovative way, is that we’ve recognised that the mango plant — instead of using rocks and concrete, the mango plant, used as a natural species, has proven to be very resilient in terms of protecting the river banks and other land spaces from landslides and erosion.”
He went on to say that due to this quality in the mango plant, the organizers have decided to “propagate the mango and select various areas that we can plant it…”
How many mango plants will be planted as part of this project? “Thousands of plants” Emmanuel declared, indicating that some 6,000 have already been planted since the program took off.
Also speaking on the various ways in which mangoes can be used, Emmanuel encouraged persons to use it in non-traditional ways.
“We want to encourage persons to use it in non-traditional ways.
“So now, for example, we have the mango being used for smoothies, at top restaurants…” Emmanuel stated.
