Native Forest
The wildlife corridor is the
reforestation effort on the site.
It is the permaculture “zone 5” of the project, where the community will get a chance to participate in the complete reforestation of some portion of the site (see left). Within ecology and conservation, there is a growing emphasis on creating connected forested for the sake of habitat and species conservation.
By planting out this forest, PEG will do more that just create a few more acres of habitat, the project will have connected a huge expanse of forest to the north of the cliff, with another strip of forest to the south. As more plantation owners and the broader Bajan community buy-in to this movement as a part of the island's well-being, increased habitat connectivity will produce emergent benefits for Bajan ecosystems.
The corridor should be as wide as possible. The corridor width may vary with habitat type or target species, but a rule of thumb is about a minimum of 1,000 feet wide (but larger if possible). The strip at PEG will not be this wide, and in establishing the corridor, the PEG team should strive to make it as wide as possible. Even if the corridor itself is narrower than desired, the entire PEG project is increasing habitat diversity just by evolving from a sugarcane monoculture to a diverse garden, orchard, pasture, and agroforestry mix.
Important notes around establishing habitat corridors...
Maintain as much natural open space as possible next to any culverts to encourage the use of the culverts as passageways for animals. This is important because roads and paths can be very dangerous or seen as barriers to those animals potentially using the corridor.
Maximize land uses adjacent to the corridor that reduce human impacts to the corridor. Do not allow housing or other impacts to project into the corridor to form impediments to movement and increase harmful edge effects. If housing is to be permitted next to the corridor, put conservation easements on adjacent lots to prohibit structures nearest the corridor.
Develop strict lighting restrictions for the houses adjacent to the corridor to prevent light pollution into the corridor. Lights must be directed downward and inward toward the home.
Propagation of Endangered Species
"The island of Barbados had its forests stripped
in the colonial period, leaving less than 1%
of the native forest standing and a number
of species endangered or even completely
extinct on the island."
With the help of a local university, graduate students, and the brilliance of our planters, these species could find a home at PEG where they once again could thrive and produce seeds to be shared throughout the island.
As a windbreak, the forest strip can work quite ideally, much like image 2 above. Ensure that many layers of the forest are maintained so that there are various heights, textures and seasonal patterns expressed throughout the installation.
impermeable windbreak
Agroforestry
Agroforestry is an intensive
land management system.
A combination of agriculture with tree systems to create farming and ranching systems that more closely align with principles of ecology.
It has recently been called
"the future of food production" by the UNDP.
The list of agroforestry practices includes:
PEG's future phases will incorporate agroforestry strips into the farm's sloping landscape. These 50-100 foot wide strips will run roughly on-contour across the slopes of the central fields. Initially they will be used as test strips, as well as propagation areas for tree and shrub species that may be incorporated across the project for fruit, timber, fertility, and habitat. These test strips will help the PEG team to identify which species and techniques best merge with their landscape, so that they can implement these systems on a larger scale as the project progresses.
Purpose
There are many different ways to do agroforestry strips. What is important in this case is the engagement of whomever will be the manager for the project and their full participation in making them as robust, productive and functional as possible. This form of agriculture has been called “the future of food production” by the UNDP and has so much potential for incredible impact. Make sure to approach it with the respect and design it deserves.
Contour barrier hedgerows of multipurpose plants and trees are interesting for different reasons:
"The trees and other perennial plants
provide an additional source of income"
"The nitrogen fixing, biomass producing perennial species aid in building soil"
"Fodder production for cows and sheep"
"Biodiversity enhancement in grassland through the use of pollinatorattracting species"
"Soil structure improvement"
"Reduction of erosion and increased water retention Establishment Natural vegetative strips of 12 meters wide are mapped using either a laser level or Aframe level.
The 12 meter wide strip consists out of 5 lines with a 3 meter spacing in between
each line. This is planted out with a mix
of different species"
"Nitrogen Fixing"
"Fodder producing"
"Pollinator attractants"
"High value fruit trees"
"Bananas, Pineapples, .. "
