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The National
Environment and Planning Agency, the Tourism Product Development
Company (TPDCo) and the Ministry of Agriculture have embarked on a
project to resuscitate Holland Bamboo Avenue in St, Elizabeth. The
project which has been in the pipeline for some months, began taking
roots in early November. It involves the cleaning of the roots of
existing shoots and the replanting of plant stock to fill the gaps.
The project is scheduled to last approximately four weeks and will be
funded with monies from TPDCo.
The Avenue was
ravaged by hurricane Ivan which led to extensive thinning of the
canopy. Further, the grazing of cattle, the harvesting of bamboo by
residents in the area who use it to make fish pots, have severely
depleted the once lush plants lining the Avenue.
The project
will include a public education component which will be undertaken by
the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) which will seek to
educate residents in and around Holland Bamboo on how to care and
maintain bamboo as well as to discourage harvesting by residents.
Worldwide
there are over 1000 species of bamboo which range from ground cover
bamboo that at maturity are only a few inches high, to giant bamboo
which can grow up to 100 feet tall. The variety planted on Bamboo
Avenue is the Bambusa Vulgaris species, which is the largest variety
introduced in Jamaica. |
