Vanilla Paradise Nevis: Committed to Biodiversity Conservation
The Significance of International Day for Biological Diversity
Each year, on May 22nd the world celebrates the International Day for Biological Diversity to raise awareness and understanding of the vital role biodiversity plays in sustaining life on our planet. The Convention on Biological Diversity, adopted in 1992 by the United Nations and ratified by 196 countries, aims to promote the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and its components.
Vanilla Paradise Nevis: Commitment to Biodiversity Conservation
At Vanilla Paradise Nevis, we recognize the importance of biodiversity and are committed to contributing to it on our vanilla farm. We aim to use organic techniques and sustainable resources found on the island to ensure that our plantation is environmentally friendly and promotes the conservation of biodiversity.
One of the ways we contribute to biodiversity is by introducing a crop that is found naturally on the island but may not have ever been cultivated – vanilla. Although Nevis provides perfect conditions for growing vanilla, it was probably never formally cultivated on the island due to the high labour requirements and competition from other crops, such as sugar cane, cotton, cocoa, tobacco and indigo. By introducing vanilla cultivation on our farm, we hope to contribute to biodiversity by diversifying the crops grown on the island. This not only provides a unique product to the market but also creates employment opportunities for the local community.
Organic Techniques and Sustainable Practices: Enhancing Biodiversity on the Vanilla Farm
Our vanilla farm is managed using organic techniques that avoid the use of synthetic fertilisers that can have negative impacts on the environment. Instead, we create our own mulches using coconut husks, foliage and matter normally found where vanilla plants grow. We lay old coconut husks in our shade houses in between rows of plants to keep weeds down and avoid using herbicides. Just as importantly, we do not use any pesticides: slugs and other natural invadors are removed by hand as we pollinate, prune, water and take care of the plants.
Coconut husks are used as mulch for planting as well as natural herbicides.
We recuperate and use as much rainwater as we can and will be installing solar power for the mist irrigation system. Whilst creating the shade houses for the vanilla plants, we have left the larger established trees – mangoes, wild tamarind, sandbox and of course the spectacular flamboyant. This, we hope, will preserve and encourage the natural habitat of wildlife found on and around our farm.
Celebrating International Day for Biological Diversity reminds us of the importance of biodiversity and its role in sustaining life on our planet. At Vanilla Paradise Nevis, we recognize this importance and are committed to contributing to biodiversity conservation on the island by using organic techniques, sustainable resources, and introducing vanilla as a crop. Our pledge: to plant 30 coconut trees to enrich our land and our environment on Nevis.