On World Bee Day, Friday 20 May 2022, the Association of Caribbean Beekeeping Organisations coordinated a virtual event which recorded and highlighted tree-planting efforts amongst eight Caribbean island-nations. This cross-Caribbean effort aimed to raise regional awareness about the importance of bees and all pollinators by enhancing the habitat on which they depend. The event also featured bee and pollinator experts and practitioners from across the world.
In Anguilla, the Anguilla National Trust, Agriculture Unit-Department of Natural Resources, and Gender Affairs Anguilla organised a two-day event that merged World Bee Day and World Biodiversity Day celebrations.
With advice provided by the Department of Disaster Management and the Ministry of Infrastructure, celebrations began on the morning of 20 May with the planting of lignum vitae seedlings along the Calvin Washington Lake Road. Project partners linked up with the newly-formed women’s beekeeping collective and the Morris Vanterpool Primary School to plant additional lignum vitae seedlings in the school yard.
The endangered lignum vitae tree typically grows up to 4m in height with impressive canopies that provide much welcomed shade. Their stunning blue-purple flowers also attract pollinating bees. These bees play an important role in maintaining biodiversity and in improving the quantity and quality of agricultural production.
On Saturday 21 May, the first annual Biodiversity Day Festival was held at Fountain National Park. The well-attended event showcased Anguilla’s pollinators through a range of activities that included pollinatorfocused arts and crafts activities, a guided walk and scavenger hunt through the National Park, decorating of plant pots and planting of basil and tarragon seedlings, lignum vitae seedling and hummingbird feeder give-aways, face painting by Daryl Ruan, and the tasting of various honeys and honey-based drinks prepared by mixologist Joash Proctor.
World Bee Day and World Biodiversity Day celebrations were made possible through funding by the UK Government’s Darwin Plus Initiative and the European Commission’s BEST 2.0+ B4LIFE Initiative.
– Press Release
