An expedition to the British Virgin Islands
By Kevin Martin
2018-06-18
One of the benefits of working at RBG Kew is that one never knows what opportunities will come next. As part of Kew Gardens’ Overseas Territories projects, the Arboricultural team at Kew has been asked to provide assistance as the islands recover from the hurricane Irma, which particularly impacted the island of Tortola.
Tortola is in the Caribbean and is one of the British Overseas Territories. Tortola is the largest of the islands located in the British Virgin Islands, forming part of archipelago group of the virgin island. It has a surface area of 21.5sq miles with a population of 23,908.
On September 6th 2017, Tortola was hit by hurricane Irma with the eye of the storm passing over the centre of the island. Hurricane Irma is the second costliest Caribbean hurricane on record after hurricane Maria. The total loss of lives from hurricane Irma was 134 lives on the areas hit which include one in Anguilla; one in Barbados; three in Barbuda; four in the British Virgin Islands; 10 in Cuba; 11 in the French West Indies; one in Haiti; three in Puerto Rico; four on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten; 92 in the contiguous United States, and four in the U.S. Virgin Islands. With wind speeds topping 180mph making it the second most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017, behind only Hurricane Maria.
Image: The eye of the storm passing over British Virgin Islands.
We have been tasked to assist with the recovery programme of J.R O’Neal Botanic Gardens and the Government House. The specific task is to carry out an assessment of the remaining trees and to evaluate their condition and suitability for retention. In addition, we will be undertaking any arboricultural work needed to ensure the trees are in a safe condition. This will allow the Parks Trust to re-open both sites to the visiting tourists. The team will also be training the gardens’ staff in the safe use of chainsaws and pruning techniques, to enable them to be equipped to carry on the recovery programme themselves going forward.
From Kew, there is a team of four arboriculturists, including myself traveling on this expedition. My role specifically involves carrying out tree assessments and future management plans for both sites. My three colleagues will be carrying out arboricultural works to render the sites safe for the visiting tourists in the Autumn. This is an important part of the recovery process of the area which is crucial to the economy of the islands.
Extra: Some images of the destruction caused by hurricane Irma.
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