A Fresh Start Begins with a Tree

The Caribbean Tree Planting Project (CTPP) is a pledge-to-plant project aimed at planting 1 million trees throughout the Caribbean to mitigate the impacts of and create awareness about climate change as part of the United Nations effort to plant 1 trillion trees.

The Cayman Islands campaign, managed by local youth, is focused on planting native trees, food producing trees, and mangroves.

Since lock down last March, many community activities have been postponed and even cancelled. However, last week marked the program’s first official tree planting school event. The tree planting celebration was held at Cayman International School just before midterm break. On Wednesday morning members of The Tree Planting Project KY and Protect Our Future students worked with Grade 2 CIS students to plant several trees, kindly donated by Dart’s own 2020 Tree Give Initiative.

Led by teacher Amanda Brown and POF students Matt Gilmour, Yasmin Elise and Marleigh Smith, the younger kids gathered around the trees to discuss their importance. One student yelled out, “Trees give us oxygen.” Another student said, “They give some animals a place to live.”

They then planted the trees, each taking turns putting fresh soil down and watering each tree carefully.

Yasmin Elise, 17, thought it was “so sweet to see how excited seven and eight year olds were about planting trees. They asked so many questions and everyone wanted to be involved. They even named each tree!”

The project's broader goal was to help each school “press reset” after lockdown, and plant a tree to commemorate our island’s tenacity in overcoming the struggle of these difficult months.

The project has secured up to 10 trees per school. The hope is that by the end of the year most schools on Island will also make this positive change to their environment! Triple C and Cayman Prep have already committed to the project. If your school is interested, email the treeplantingproject.ky@gmail.com or find us on Facebook and Instagram @treeplantingprojectky.

Individuals can also get involved. The project has partnered with Trees That Feed and Caribbean Blooms, offering vouchers for fruits trees that can be planted in your own yard. Make your pledge to plant today!