Saint Lucia Forestry Stories: Michael Bobb “My Forestry Journey”
Michael Bobb Forestry assistant, 1976-1979; Forest Officer 1, 1979-1988; Range Officer, 1988-2006, Assistant Chief Forestry Officer 2006-2011; Chief Forestry Officer, 2012-2015, Saint Lucia Forestry Department
Since 2020 Michael has been working with the Saint Lucia Department of Sustainable Development in a consulting capacity on the Iyanola Project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Between 2015 and 2019 Michael worked with the Soufriere Marine Management Authority (SMMA).
Compiled from an interview with Christopher Cox, March 2025
My early days; a baptism by fire…and mud!
I was straight out of the Soufriere Secondary School when I took the first step into my career with Forestry. I remember vividly that very first day in March in 1976 when I was 17 years old. I was assigned to work in the Quilesse Range, the area of forest reserve and surrounding landscapes in the southeastern portion of the island.
That early March morning at 6 am, I accompanied Ananias Verneuil, a forestry officer assigned to Quilesse Range to head to work in the forest. We hopped on an old Bedford truck, converted to a bus, operated by Mr. Gilroy Lamontagne, who plied the route daily between the town of Soufriere and the community of Fond St. Jacques, up in the mountains east of Soufriere. Mr. Lamontagne not only carried passengers, but also produce grown in the Fond St. Jacques area. As a youth I had travelled between Soufriere and Castries and a few other locations on the island, but I had never been to Fond St. Jacques.
Mr. Lamontagne dropped us at Migny, a location just higher up the road from Fond St. Jacques. From there we walked to the Forestry Division resthouse in the forest reserve at Edmund Forest…a distance of nearly two and a half miles. On arriving at Edmund Forest, I was met by the forestry workers who on seeing me, laughed, chastising me for wearing sandals….“Ki sa jenn tibway-la ka fè; ka maché an lafowé-a èvèk zapat an pyé’y?” [“what is that little boy doing there, walking in the forest with sandals on his feet?”]. I would soon learn that my choice of footwear was a big mistake!
I thought when we got to Edmund Forest that would be the end of the journey for the day, but no…turns out it was just the start! We were to head across the forest to eventually reach a place called La Porte, on the eastern side of the Quilesse Reserve. On the way we stopped at a place called Quilesse Gap where we met up with another crew of forestry workers who were engaged in timber logging operations in the area. It was there I met Augustin ‘Howe’ Isidore, one of the workers, who would become a close work colleague and dear friend for life. Augustin looked at my sandaled feet and having sympathy, suggested that it would be best to stick to the trail to La Porte rather than traversing the river route which would have been quicker; as there was no way I would have made it wearing sandals. Even so, the going was tough…a baptism by fire!!! I felt like turning back given the great difficulty I had walking the muddy trail in sandals, but where would I go? I had no idea where I was. I could hear my mom’s words of wisdom on my first time leaving home for the work world, that if I was ever to be successful, I needed to persevere.
After two hours, which felt like an eternity, we reached La Porte. There we met another group of workers who were stationed in Desruisseaux who were involved in forestry operations in that area. The had a fire going and were eating their breakfast with an assortment of local food; dasheene, roti, bread, bake.
My entry to forestry was encouraged by Gabriel ‘Coco’ Charles (aka Charlo) and Louis Gonzague Carasco, to consider a career in forestry. Mr. Charles was a family friend who at the time, was based at Edmund Forest and assigned to the Soufriere Forest Range, as was Carasco. I remember Charlo being very active in the community, playing chess with the guys around the town. He was also quite involved in organizing local carnival festivities. Mr. Carasco lived not too far away on Smith Street, and he was of the opinion that there were too few youngsters getting involved in forestry, so he urged me on.
In spite of my rough first day at Forestry, I enjoyed being out in nature. I remember clearly the calls of the parrot, although at the time I did not know what kind of bird it was. The sounds and scenes of the forest left a strong impression, and I figured this job could be right for me. For the next outing in the mud, the workers made sure I had a pair of boots…but no one advised that they are best to be worn with socks, so of course had to put up with uncomfortable blisters for the week!
I reported to Felix ‘Jamesy’ James who was the Quilesse Range Officer; Ananias was the senior forestry officer in the range, working under James. In those days, people used to refer to the forestry field staff as ‘police bwa’. At the time, my salary was EC$80 (US$30) per fortnight! I am not sure how much that would be worth in today’s dollars but let’s say it was modest for a school leaver.
The field residence for the Quilesse Range forestry officers was located at Belle Vue which we shared with the Crown Lands rangers. There was no forestry vehicle assigned to the range (although Jamesy had his personal vehicle), so we relied on our feet to get us to the job. From Belle Vue we would walk to the forest each day; an almost two-hour trek each way. Normally we would walk through Desruisseaux, take the short cut through Blanchard, then cut across the banana plantations to get to La Porte…no matter the weather. On reaching La Porte we would have breakfast and then get to work. It was tough going.
Timber operations and combatting deforestation at Quilesse
When I joined Forestry, harvesting timber was a big part of the forest operations in the Quilesse Range. Timber was harvested mainly from plantations of Honduras Mahogany and Blue Mahoe that had been established many years before, along with some of the native tree species favored for furniture and construction. The timber harvesting operations in the range and elsewhere were supervised by Archibald Gajadhar, who was the deputy to Charlo. He regularly came down to Quilesse to check on the operations.
The timber logging crew comprised of five workers along with Peter Gordon, a chainsaw operator from Fond St Jacques. The forest officers, myself included, would scout the forest to identify suitable trees for felling. Once the tree was felled by Peter, he would section the trunk into 8-foot logs.
Vehicular access into areas to be harvested (from La Porte to Quilesse) was created by a D8 tractor which was operated by the Government Funding Scheme (of the Ministry of Works). Having motorable road access was to allow for the use of a skidder, a type of tractor specially outfitted for hauling cut logs out of the forest to a loading bay, and then for access by a truck to transport the logs from the loading bay to the Timbershed sawmill in Castries.
The skidder was operated by Collins Alcee. The machinewas kept that the Government Funding Scheme yard at Patience, and Collins would drive it each day to La Porte to service the operations. Over time, it was realized that it was uneconomical to drive the skidder daily to La Porte, hence it was decided that the machine is to remain at La Porte, meaning that the workers needed to stay overnight at the forest rest house at Quilesse to improve efficiency in the operations.
The main problem faced in the field was maneuvering the logs out of the forest over extremely muddy and difficult terrain. The skidder eventually suffered several mechanical issues; I recall in particular problems with the steering mechanism. Eventually, use of the skidder ceased, as the Division did not have the financial resources to maintain the equipment. Part of the reason for sidelining the use of the skidder was also due to the introduction of the Alaskan Milling method for converting logs into boards on-site, rather than having to haul out saw logs, a much easier process to manage.
The Alaskan Mill method had been introduced prior in operations at Edmund Forest and the experience and expertise of Peter Gordon was applied at La Porte, Quilesse. In this method, a chainsaw is fitted with a rig that allows the chainsaw operator to glide the chainsaw blade in parallel cuts along the length of the saw log. Once the boards are cut, these could be easily carried (usually headed out) to the roadside for pickup by the truck.
Besides the timber harvesting operations, we also engaged in patrols to guard against illegal incursions by landless squatters into the forest, where they cleared lands for cultivation. In those days the problem was acute in the Belle Vue and Fond Bwapen areas and deterring squatters at times would be a hostile affair. Squatting was triggered by the rapid expansion in the banana industry when at the time the crop was dubbed ‘green gold’. Banana cultivations spread deep into the mountainous interior, where landless farmers would access Crown Lands and forest reserve unauthorized, to plant bananas. At that time, Crown Lands Ranger Kenneth Kerr, who served that area, would often accompany us on the patrols.
Where we were able to negotiate with squatters for their eventual relocation out of the forest, the Forestry Division would enter into an agreement with them where they would be supplied with forest tree seedlings to plant within their cultivation and over time tend for the seedlings. Once the trees reached adequate height (where they would shade-out the crops), the farmer would give up the plot and the Forestry Division would assign them to an alternative plot of land elsewhere. This approach was known as the taungya system.
Assignment to the Soufriere Range
After a two-year stint in Quilesse Range, I was assigned to the Soufriere Range inearly 1979. There I worked under the Range officer, Lawrence Antoine who was assisted by Forest Officer Emmanuel Theodore. At that time, I was appointed Forest Officer 1. The assigned tasks were diverse; they ranged from supervising the workers, to forest patrols, to collecting seeds to be sent to the Union Forest Nursery for propagation of new planting material. This also included supervision of logging operations and forest plantation maintenance and establishment of new plantations.
Given the substantial acreage of Blue Mahoe that was established at Edmund Forest and the operational requirements to maintain maximum yield of timber volume, the stands needed to be managed through a process of thinning; to selectively cut, or thin-out smaller trees to reduce the crowding and competition for light and nutrients. These ‘thinnings’, trees generally less than 4 inches in diameter were then segmented into 6-foot lengths that would be sold as fence posts. The posts were hauled from Edmund Forest to a preservative treatment plant at Des Chassin (in the Northern Range near La Sorciere). The treatment entailed immersion of the posts in a large boiling vat of creosote and diesel oil mix where after two days of boiling, the creosote/diesel preservative combination would have sufficiently penetrated the sapwood and ends of the posts to give resistance to rot and termites. At Des Chassin spilt-fencing was also made. The posts were split into quarters and linked together by wire to create fence rolls of 25 and 50 feet. Some creosote treatment was also done at Edmund Forest, but the bulk was done at Des Chassin.
Sometime between 1984 and 1985 I was part of a small group of foresters that participated in a training exchange with the Forestry Division in Trinidad to gain better understanding and acquire skills in forestry management and silviculture. The programme ran for three weeks and along with me, were Leo Dusauzay, Robert Gregg and Winston Desir. If I recall well, the training exchange was facilitated by a Mr. Joseph of the Trinidad Forestry Division who was a colleague of Gabriel Charles. Trinidad had a long history of commercial forest utilization, where species such as teak, pine and blue mahoe were cultivated. The training was intended to learn best practices to be applied in Saint Lucia.
With this ‘foundational’ training, backed by increased experience with the Range operations, the scope of my responsibilities gradually increased; I was also given special assignments. One of these special assignments was to work directly with the St. Lucia Parrot conservation/research initiative with Paul Butler and David Jeggo of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust (JWPT) now the Durrell Wildlife Preservation Trust. Work on conservation of our endangered parrot had been initiated in the early 1980s.
Given the need to scout for nesting sites and observe parrot behavior during their active periods (early morning and late afternoon) it was necessary that officers assigned to this work live at the forest rest houses, along with the research team. Given that I was based in nearby Soufriere, I was assigned to the project, along with some of the other workers from the Soufriere Range. The Forestry Division’s short wheel-based Land Rover, license plate 2252 was dedicated to the parrot work.
We spent countless hours in the forest scaling ridges, hiking long distances, sliding down slopes to trace the birds’ daily movements over the forest, to document their habits and identify the trees they used for feeding and nesting. This foundational work laid the basis for the design and execution of the parrot census that Jeggo mainly supervised.
With our support, that included Lester Jn. Baptiste, Nicholas ‘Yellowman’ Marcellin and Augustin, Paul Butler erected parrot nest boxes based on technical guidance from Ariel Lugo of the US Forest Service of Puerto Rico who had been working with the similarly endangered Puerto Rico Parrot. The nest boxes, made of fiberglass were mainly installed in Quilesse with some in Edmund Forest. We also mounted nest boxes for the Pearly-eyed Thrasher alongside the parrot nest boxes. In Puerto Rico, Pearly-eyed Thrashers were observed to be nest predators of the Puerto Rico Parrot (where they removed parrot chicks and took over the nest cavity in which they laid their own eggs) and was assumed that the thrashers in St. Lucia would demonstrate similar behaviors. To my recollection however, only on one occasion did our parrots use the artificial nest boxes (and we did not observe nest predation by the Pearly-eyed Thrasher).
I rejoined the parrot conservation research team again in the mid-1990s under a research collaboration with renowned ornithological scientist Noel Snyder, supported by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, with James ‘Jim’ Dawson as principal researcher, working closely with fellow officers Rhikkie Alexander, Alwin Dornelly, Lyndon John and Donald Anthony. Of course, Howe was our usual trusted support for tracking nest locations over the terrain he was so familiar with. Under that cooperative programme, Lyndon, Alwin and I attained Bachelor of Science degrees in wildlife management from Grambling State University, between 1997 and 2000. A big part of the programme was renewed investment in environmental education that again showcased forest conservation around the parrot as a flagship species.
Days at Louvet, Northern Range
In the mid-1980s Peter Gordon, Julius George and I were assigned (by Charlo) for a two-year period to Louvet within the Northern Range, to work with Leonard Cherebin and Robert Gregg in the commercial timber operations that had also been underway at that location. This was given my silvicultural training in Trinidad, combined with my field experience, having worked in the operations at Quilesse and Soufriere, and also having worked with Pat Piitz, the silviculturist who led the forest inventory work under the Canadian government-funded Forestry Management Project that commenced in the early 1980s.
Peter operated the chainsaw and Julius drove the skidder. Collins, who previously drove the skidder at Quilesse, tragically died in a vehicular accident sometime between 1983 and 1984, and George had taken over that role. This skidder, based at Louvet, used the parts from the defunct skidder at Patience. During those days, we lived in the forestry rest house at Caille Des.
As with the operations at Quilesse, the truck from Timbershed, driven by Peter Mc Donnell and two ‘footmen’ (loading assistants) would come three times a week (providing the truck had not broken down) to haul sawn logs from the loading bay at Louvet. The bulk of the wood harvested was from native species; much of it lowyé mabwé (Ocotea leucoxylon), poyé (white cedar) (Tabebuia pallida) and lowyé kannèl (Aniba ramageana), the latter extracted from deep within the forest. Enrichment planting of Honduras mahogany and Blue Mahoe was done at this location.
By 1989 or so, the operations at Louvet stopped mainly because of the challenges of operating the truck on the extremely rough roads between Louvet and Des Barras where the truck constantly broke down. On those occasions, cut timber had to be left on-site for extended periods, and in some cases eventually abandoned as rendered unusable as rot, termite or beetle infestation set in. Compounding the problems with the truck were the frequent breakdowns of the sawmilling equipment at Timbershed. We were assigned back to the Soufriere Range following this stint.
Incursions and infractions
Within the Soufriere Range, patrols were important, due to the many incursions within the reserve on account of illicit marijuana cultivation. On several occasions, Forestry collaborated with the police in assisting to pin-point illegal squatting. The plantations, established mainly by Rastafarians living in the Fond St. Jacques area and environs were typically located in very remote areas, perched on steep terrain, unseen from usual vantage points when traversing the forest. To avoid detection, the Rastas would not use trails but rather access the plantation walking in the streams so as to minimize footprints in the mud and conceal their path.
One day, on a forest patrol with Lester Jn Baptiste, Augustin Isidore and Gregory ‘Tappy’ Francis along the flanks of Piton Troumassee, we suddenly came across a marijuana plantation with plants taller than ourselves. At first, we saw no one but soon came to the realization that the planters were quietly watching us from a distance; given that they were from the local area we knew who they were. In all cases where we came across growers, we laid compounded offences; meaning that rather than arresting and taking the offender to court, the charge was made on-site according to provisions of the Forest, Soil and Water Conservation Ordinance. The fine, typically EC$500 (US$185), would usually be paid at the Treasury Department at the Soufriere Post Office.
However, given the lucrative value of the trade, the ‘low’ fine would often not be enough of a deterrent, and they would still return to the forest to grow the ‘other green gold’. What made the job of forest patrolling dangerous in the Soufriere Range was the fact that there were at times non-nationals involved, some of whom were known to the police as dangerous. In those cases, the police ‘special squad’ would be deployed to address the matter.
Among other infractions that we had to deal with was the occasional illegal trapping of our St. Lucia Parrot. Somewhere between 1990 and 1992, there was a case when we prosecuted an individual from Desraches for illegal possession of a parrot. The case was tried by Robert Gregg in the Soufriere District Court, which was met by an outcry from some in the community who suggested that as a fellow community member, they expected better of me; but of course, I had to do what was right by the law I was entrusted to uphold. In fact, we gained his support as an advocate to help us send the strong message pertaining to enforcement of the Wildlife Protection Act, in the conservation of our endangered parrot and other local wildlife.
Related to the enforcement work, was the requirement that the forest reserve boundaries were clearly visible and monumented. The boundary line maintenance work was challenging as the surveyed boundaries of the reserves often traversed some of the most difficult terrain. We used a Gunter’s Chain to measure the boundary line distances as per the survey plans, and installed forest reserve marker signs at select locations. We would typically work over long distances, sometimes getting deep into the Millet Range, the management area north of the Soufriere Range. During these operations we (or at least I) were extremely fortunate as to have never encountered the deadly St. Lucia Viper or fer-de-lance, aka ‘sepan’, a bite from which would have serious consequences when deep in the forest.
Other range operations
During the CIDA forestry project, eight sample plots were established in the mahogany and blue mahoe plantations at Edmund Forest. These plots were to measure and track the gain in the wood yields as the trees grew. To guide the work, air photos and other research data to establish the plot design for sampling were applied. The lead silviculturist under the project, Pat Piitz directed this work.
Tom Ward, an American Peace Corps volunteer assigned to Forestry for two years between 1993 and 1994 established sample plots in the Blue Mahoe and Honduras Mahogany plantations. During his time, he lived in the resthouse at Edmund Forest. There was also Leena, whose last name I cannot recall, another Peace Corps Volunteer who was based in Castries, supported the assessment work to find old forest plantations that became lost, and reidentify sample trees that had been tagged previously. During her field days she would stay at Fond St. Jacques and each morning the crew would pick her up to go to Edmund Forest.
In later years, Lyndon John who worked as Research Officer along with Michael ‘Jahba’ Andrew and others, came from Castries to carry out monitoring work, following on from Tom Ward’s assessments.
Click here for the names of persons in the photo
Given the high rainfall of the area, it was ideal for the cultivation of flowers, and anthurium lilies were planted within the forest plantations as a non-timber forest product that was sold to buyers and also to serve as demonstration to farmers and landowners who had interest in establishing agroforestry systems on their land.
Sometime between 1982 and 1986 a prominent businessman in Soufriere, Johnson Jn. Baptiste aka ‘JJB’ who also owned lands adjacent to the forest had established a mobile sawmill on his lands to assist in commercial timber extraction. The only other private milling operation in the island was at Fine Timbers in Patience. He had a D6 tractor and had carved a road to access his lands. However, he needed to assess his land through the government forest reserve, hence he entered into negotiation with the Forestry Division. The outcome of the negotiation was that he would pay a royalty to the government for gaining access although I cannot recall whether any formal agreement ever existed or was signed.
His operations commenced where he was harvesting local timber; lowyé mabwé (Ocotea leucoxylon), gonmyé (Dacryodes excelsa), bwa blan (Simarouba amara). However, at some point it was realized that he was also harvesting Honduras Mahogany and Blue Mahoe, trees that were apparently within the forest reserve. This led to an ensuing dispute with the Forestry Division that centered on disagreement as to where the boundary between his land and the reserve was, as it was a possibility that trees planted by Forestry a long time ago, may have been on his land. During the dispute, access was denied, and the situation was never fully resolved. Interest waned on both sides over the years, with the equipment likely falling into eventual disrepair.
An aspect of interest in the Range was the attempted establishment of a cross-country road that would link the Fond St. Jacques community in the west, to Mahaut and ultimately Micoud to the east. Already the unsurfaced logging road had been carved from La Porte into the forest toward Quilesse Gap along the contour of Piton St. Esprit. The lead engineer / project manager was one Mr. Murray, who was under the employment of the government, hence the project became known as the ‘Murray Road’. However, monies that were earmarked for the road allegedly went to the construction of a house he was building on the very proposed Murray Road, on the ridgeline uphill from Migny, giving views of the valleys looking both east and westward. The project was halted I assume, partly due to the misuse of the funds but also due to strong opposition by Forestry related to possible impacts to the forest resource and threats to water supply. No one ever lived in the house which sustained significant damage from Hurricane Allen in 1980.
At the start of forest ecotourism
I recall the very first forest tours operated by the Forestry Division around 1981. The idea was to open up the Central Rainforest Trail from La Porte to Edmund Forest (that included part of the logging road) for tourists to experience the forest, with the highlight being the chance of seeing the rare St. Lucia Parrot or Jacquot. This was largely motivated by the conservation efforts to save the bird and building awareness of its plight.
The first hotel we offered forest tours to was Caribbees Hotel (now Bel Jou) at La Pansee, Castries. I recall the first tour was a 25-person group from that hotel, who were bussed by Fletcher Tours. We were dropped off at La Porte with the bus going around to Soufriere to meet us on the other side of the forest. We then traversed the forest, an approximate 3 or 4 hour walk, coming out at Edmund Forest to be picked up by the bus at Migny. The tour was followed by lunch at the Still Restaurant, with some beach time for the guests at Malgretoute, Soufriere, before returning to the hotel.
Depending on demand, this was repeated as many as three times a week. I would drive the Forestry Land Rover (we called ‘2252’ – its license plate number) from Soufriere to collect Paul Butler from Edmund Forest (where he lived), drive to the hotel and park at the premises, then accompany the tourists as tour guides on the tour, return with the group to the hotel, collect ‘2252’ and then drive back to Soufriere.
Eventually we had a working formula and soon enough we trained young staff including Christina Pierre, Alphia George and others, to take on this role as dedicated naturalists/tour guides. In the early days, Francis James was contracted to upgrade the trail to improve the walking surface from Edmund Forest to La Porte.
In 1991 or 1992 we opened the Enbas Saut Trail to the waterfall (of the same name) on the Troumassee River, at the foot of Piton Troumassee. A short section of the access trail from the trailhead to the falls traversed the Jimmy Estate lands but as visitation grew, objections were raised by the owners. This resulted in us having to adjust the trail route and reaching agreement with the landowners.
On to administration
In 2002 I was appointed to the post of Assistant Chief Forest Officer (Conservation) after Christopher Cox, who occupied the position, moved within the Ministry of Agriculture to the job of Chief Agricultural Planning Officer. The transition between the practical or field side of forestry and toward the administrative side, and particularly dealing with the human resource management aspect I found most challenging. The other senior officers, Michael ‘Jahba’ Andrew (Deputy Chief) and Cornelius ‘Zex’ Isaac (Assistant Chief – Operations) were helpful in providing guidance in the initial days in the management team. Having my technical background and long years of field experience across many areas of forestry helped.
The forest resource management challenge the Department faced in more recent years had shifted from the days when I joined. Unlike then, when commercial timber extraction and boundary patrols to ward off squatting was a large part of the work, we found ourselves having to pay greater attention to management of forest resources that lay outside forest reserves, in the conservation of biodiversity, dealing with invasive alien species and water resources management.
Many of the challenges have taken on the climate change dimension, where climate change would hasten the demise of our resources particularly if we did not have strong engagement of communities who would be most affected. By that time Saint Lucia had become signatory to various UN environmental agreements; the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Convention on Desertification and Land Degradation (UNCCD) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), all of which required the country to engage in holistic planning and where forestry was a key part. Modern forestry was now about the complex relationships with other sectors; making built landscapes more resilient to climate change, maintaining water supply, preserving agricultural productivity, among others.
In [2008/2010] I became Deputy Chief when Cornelius left Forestry to work with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Michael Andrew was by then the Chief Forestry Officer with Lyndon John and Adams Toussaint as the two Assistant Chiefs (with the Conservation and Operations portfolios respectively). Much of the work at that level was admin-heavy in strategizing and planning. Along with Jahba, we strengthened the working mode of ‘activity leaders’ among the senior management team, and ensured the department’s work was in line with Saint Lucia’s obligations under the UN conventions, mainly the CBD and UNCCD.
In 2012 Jahba moved on to head the Water Resources Management Agency (WRMA) and I was appointed as Chief Forestry Officer. I remained in the position for two years, marking the end of a 42-year career with Forestry.
A couple memorable moments…
Among the experiences in the ‘range work’ there were a couple of memorable, in hindsight laughable, moments.
One was during the earlier days of the parrot conservation work with Paul Butler. One of the priorities of Forestry was to define a parrot conservation reserve that would safeguard a perpetual refuge for the species. The proposed parrot nature reserve was to be located mostly within Central Reserve A, with the southeastern corner extending into the Quilesse Reserve; the overall parrot reserve area defined as a square shape. With the geographic extents staked out on the paper map by Paul, it was now to find the proposed reserve boundaries on the ground. Given the terrain, locating these boundaries was no easy feat; one of the lines went straight up the flanks of Mt. Gimie! Nonetheless, assisted by Lester, Howe, Yellowman and Howe’s brother, John, we carved out the boundary lines, clearing the shrubbery and placing nature reserve signs at appropriate locations.
By XX days into the assignment, if memory serves correct, dealing with impossible terrain and no easy access, the workers began to object strongly. The turning point came when one day after trekking to start the day’s work, they casually announced that they ‘forgot’ the field equipment back at the resthouse, a long distance away. Needless to say, that line was never raised and that spelt the end of that effort. The parrot reserve is still featured on conservation priority areas of the country till this day.
In another instance, I recall during the time of the CIDA Forestry Project, sometime between 1991 and 1992 we were out in the field with the then CIDA silvicultural advisor. She was rather strait-laced, projecting at times too much of an authoritative personality. We would often push back and give her the occasional ribbing. On that day we were on a field trip to the Millet Range with Vincent ‘Style’ Ernest and David ‘Stylo’ Lewis, both of whom worked in the Northern Range. At the end of the outing, returning along the Roseau River with the sun baking down, we had the impulse to plunge in the river…and yup, all clothes set aside, the three of us jumped in naked, to our silvicultural expert’s obvious shock and surprise!!!
Reflecting…
My last years at Forestry often had me reflecting on how the motivation to work in the field of forestry seemed to change; a generational shift where the younger officers had little connection to the spirit of what drove us in the ‘old days’ and trying to make these connections live on. Indeed, we have to recognize that times change but we must not forget the grounding that we stood on. Encouraging and mentoring to boost motivation of the younger staff where enthusiasm at times was waning was key, where I needed to do my part; I am hopeful that I was able to do.
Looking back, if I had to do it all over, I would. Charlo, Lawerence Antoine, Emmaneul Theodore and Felix James were great motivators in my early career as I observed how they took pride in what they did. My inspiration was my love for the environment, and I grew up in the practical side of forestry appreciating our role in safeguarding our soil, water and wildlife. I was afforded the opportunity to travel for work and rubbed shoulders with many other mentors who inspired me; I particularly recall Ariel Lugo, who was leading the US Forest Service programme in Puerto Rico, with whom many of us Caribbean foresters interacted with, to build a Caribbean community of professional foresters. I owe much respect to Augustin ‘Howe’ Isidore, now sadly deceased, who showed me all I needed to know.
Click here for the names of persons in the photo above
I miss the old days as I cannot go to some of the places in the forest I was once able to, but the mission to do my part to help conserve the forests of St. Lucia, continues to this day.
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