Earth Heroes participate in eco activities

Earth Heroes, a collaborative corporate social responsibility initiative aimed at improving the natural environment in TT through sustainable projects, commemorated Earth Day at the Fondes Amandes Community Reforestation Project (FACRP) site in St Ann’s, last Saturday.

Each year on April 22 for the past 45 years, millions of people across the world join together to demonstrate their support for environmental conservation for Earth Day. This year the Earth Heroes initiative was able to bring together over 30 persons to have its own commemorative event in TT , a media release said.

Joining with the FACRP, a NGO dedicated to promoting sustainable community forestry in TT , the day’s activities included environmental awareness sessions, herb kit making, tree planting, environmental pledges, hikes, a river site clean-up and relaxation.

Patrons dubbed the event “a learning experience” that was “funfilled” and highlighted forest fire prevention and suppression session conducted by Kemba Jaramogi, Akilah Jaramogi and the FACRP guides.

Hiking through the steep terrain of the Fondes Amandes Hills proved challenging for some but was a learning experience for all.

The hills were littered with the fruits and seeds of indigenous trees, while the movements of birds, frogs, snakes demonstrated evidence of a balanced ecosystem, the release said.

A herb kit making session was conducted in the FACRP’s “clean trees organic nursery” where participants had to opportunity to prepare their own take-home herb kit. These herb kits included broad leaf thyme and the more popular among the group, Jamaican thyme.

Throughout the event founders of the Earth Heroes’ initiative Advanced EHS Concepts and Road Trip TT encouraged patrons to become more environmentally conscious and to make a difference in the fight against climate change. Kenyon Champion, experience manager - Road Trip TT noted, “with all the superhero movies coming out these days it’s important for us to realise that we can all be heroes in our daily lives. Simple acts like not littering or wasting water, recycling and reusing waste while encouraging friends and family members to do the same are heroic!” The day’s event concluded with well-deserved relaxation at the Fondes Amandes River. Even after a challenging trek to the river participants could be seen cleaning up garbage left back by previous bathers putting what they learnt during the day into practice. Samantha Cato, HSE Management Systems Professional with Advanced EHS Concepts summed up the importance of environmental conservation to TT , “we are highly dependent on the environment; therefore we are obligated to save it from ourselves”.

The event’s objectives were realised by the many environmental pledges made by individuals on the day that included “to stop littering, “to save water”, “to rekindle my passion with the environment and its conservation”.

For more details on the Earth Heroes initiative or to volunteer: Earth Heroes on Facebook https://web.facebook.com/ earthheroes or Instagram @earthheroes868 or email earthheroes868@ gmail.com