Exploratory sign in the Botanical Garden in Windwardside.
SABA--Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF), with funding of the Public Entity Saba, has started works on the Botanical Garden in Windwardside. The botanical garden will have only local plants and trees, and is considered an addition both for residents and visitors.
Workers are busy installing a fence around the property behind the Trail Shop. This fence is necessary to keep out the goats, so these do not eat the seedlings and saplings when planted. Local experts are providing advice on the planting of plants and trees that naturally grow on Saba, or which have been naturalised.
Local fruit trees such as guava, mango, Suriname cherries, banana, cashew, soursop, breadfruit, rough skin lemon and mammee apple will all be part of the botanical garden, but also medicinal trees and plants such as the moringa tree and aloe. Trees that once grew in larger numbers on Saba, but which are hard to find nowadays, like the cacao tree, will be planted as well.
A propagation house will be constructed and a nursery where seedlings and saplings will be grown.
“It will be a cross-section of plants that many of us know, but we will also include old, forgotten trees that people know from the past like what they call the ferron or marshmallow tree, and the West Indian mahogany which has a long history of boat building and the making of furniture,” said SCF director Kai Wulf.
A number of trees and plants are already located in what used to be a farm area until the 1970s. Locals often refer to this area as Banana Gut or Breadfruit Gut.
A sign, unveiled at the botanical garden in December 2019, by Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands and SCF board member Nicole Johnson, shows the kinds of trees and plants that will be displayed.
During that ceremony, Johnson stated in her speech that incorporating the local plants into the botanical garden was important for future generations. “We also ensure that our children and their children know the importance of these plants and trees, why they played such a large role in the daily lives of Sabans in the past, and how they are still utilised today. The botanical garden, with its goal of not only preserving but also restoring a part of Saba’s natural heritage, will add to our green identity.”
The area will be kept as much as possible in its natural state. The trail, which will connect with both the Trail Shop and the Museum Grounds, will loop through the botanical garden with a bridge that will connect the sections of the garden on both sides of the gut.
The Arnold family, the original owners of the 8,400-square-meter property officially donated the land, including the Trail Shop, which is used as a hiking information centre and gift shop, to SCF in 2017.
“The main objective is to educate residents and tourists about our trees and plants. The farm-to-table concept where we can show visitors how things grow [and - Ed.] where their food comes from is about learning about introduced and indigenous plants that have been used for generations on Saba for food, crafts and medicine. Sharing traditional knowledge will help to conserve the island’s terrestrial biodiversity, and preserve the local culture that might otherwise be lost for future generations,” said Wulf.
Commissioner Bruce Zagers, who took a tour of the area on Tuesday, February 9, expressed his pleasure on seeing this initiative finally starting to materialise. “For several years this has been a priority, but because of limited funding it never materialised. Having this botanical will further enhance our nature appeal for tourism while providing our people the opportunity to learn more about indigenous plant and tree species.”
Zagers went on to say that the botanical garden will serve as another attraction for visitors. “It will offer persons who find the regular trails too strenuous, but who still would like to experience the nature that Saba has to offer, the opportunity to immerse themselves in nature. The adjacent Museum Grounds and Harry L. Johnson museum will add to the cultural experience, to learn about those who have come before us.”
