Building Forward - Hurricane Recovery in USVI

We are pleased to share updates with you regarding the USVI hurricane recovery and resiliency projects funded through your support!

Several projects are ongoing, with anticipated end dates throughout 2020. As updates become available on the impact of COVID-19 on planned activities, we will include that information in future reporting.

Friends of Virgin Islands National Park: Native Plant Restoration (St. John) - Friends of Virgin Islands National Park supported native plant restoration, protection, and education on St. John. The project included three phases: removal of non-native, invasive plants; native plant propagation; and planting select native plants and trees with volunteer support. Most recently, more than 184 sea grapes and other native coastal plants were planted along the Maho Beach shoreline, which suffered severe beach erosion after the storms due to the loss of vegetation. In total, more than 300 native plants/trees were planted along coastal areas. Grant funds also supported a community plant giveaway to help raise awareness about the project, the value of native plants, and to foster a sense of ownership and pride for the island's environment. Over 100 individuals/families received native trees at the giveaway. This project is now complete!

SEED SPOT (St. Thomas) provided training and resources to local entrepreneurs to build their capacity to innovate and lead change in the local community. The USVI Startup Pitch Night was held virtually on July 22, providing a venue for program participants to share one-minute pitches for each of their startup business ideas with the community (watch the recording here!). The SEED SPOT program also included free entrepreneur workshops led by local experts, a 2-day launch camp that provided educational content and support from mentors and advisors, and a lifetime alumni program membership with access to exclusive resources, partners and service providers. 

Coral Bay Community Council: Environmental Recovery (St. John) - Coral Bay Community Council removed leftover hurricane debris from the shorelines and roadways of Coral Bay, in order to support environmental recovery, improve the natural and built environmental aesthetics, and have a clean and safe environment. Over 260 cubic yards of debris were properly disposed of. Grant funds also supported the design and creation of a donkey- and chicken-proof litter receptacle, in cooperation with local nonprofit My Brother's Workshop, for future deployment around Coral Bay's restaurant areas. This project is now complete!

Island Green Living Association: Commercial Composting Phase 1: Vegetation Chipping (St. John) - IGLA implemented a commercial composting system to process vegetation waste. A large wood chipper was acquired in January and began chipping vegetative material on St. John in May. Over 400 yards of material were chipped through June and work is still ongoing.

Clean Sweep Frederiksted: Urban Garden (St. Croix) - Clean Sweep Frederiksted created and implemented a comprehensive 8 week Urban Garden Workforce Development program. During the program sessions, participants were provided with educational content and hands-on experience in the community garden. They learned how to clear and prep land, install irrigation, design their garden space, propagate and transplant plants, built a composting bin and pile, learned about good and harmful pets and organic pest management, water management, and how to harvest and price their produce. Of the 17 participants, 15 received their farmer's license and 13 established plots at the Frederiksted Community Garden, and the remaining participants started home gardens or already had working farms.

UVI Campus Recycling Project (St. Thomas/St. Croix) - UVI has received all ordered recycling bins and assembled a recycling committee with faculty and staff members in order to plan and organize the logistics for the initiative and brainstorm ideas for an awareness campaign for recycling and waste reduction. Informational posters about the importance of waste reduction and recycling were also created. An agreement with Waste Management was signed to transport cans to St. John, to be recycled by Island Green Living. Unfortunately, the official launch has been postponed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and the subsequent UVI campus closing. There are plans to resume once the campus is reopened to students.

St. George Village Botanical Garden: Trees for St. Croix (St. Croix) - The more than 6,000 trees that were planted in the new nursery have remained healthy. Due to COVID-19 the garden had to close and the tree distributions were postponed. However, when the garden reopens to the general public they plan to resume the tree distribution events.

We are pleased to share updates with you regarding the USVI hurricane recovery and resiliency projects funded through your support!

Several projects are ongoing, with anticipated end dates throughout 2020. As updates become available on the impact of COVID-19 on planned activities, we will include that information in future reporting.

Friends of Virgin Islands National Park: Native Plant Restoration (St. John) - Replanting of native coastal plants has begun, with over 50 hours of volunteer time and 100 seedlings planted. Students from a local school assisted with planting seedlings along the shoreline of Trunk Bay. This project supports Virgin Islands National Park’s effort to restore native plants and trees in the park, while offering the St. John community seedlings and information on the value of planting native plants and trees. 

SEED SPOT (St. Thomas) is providing training and resources to local entrepreneurs to build their capacity to innovate and lead change in the local community. The program includes 10 free entrepreneur workshops led by local experts, a 2-day launch camp that provides educational content and support from mentors and advisors, and a lifetime alumni program membership with access to exclusive resources, partners and service providers. The launch camp was originally scheduled for the end of March 2020, but due to the Coronavirus and related public health measures, SEED SPOT has decided to postpone the program until it can be conducted in person at a future date this year.

Coral Bay Community Council: Environmental Recovery (St. John) - To date, over 85 cubic yards of marine and shoreline hurricane debris has been removed and properly disposed of. Thirty volunteers have contributed 20 hours of time and cleaned shorelines, roadsides, and mangroves in Coral Bay. Funds have also been used to install public litter containers in public areas around Coral Bay.

Island Green Living Association: Commercial Composting Phase 1: Vegetation Chipping (St. John) - A large wood chipper was acquired in January and will be used to break down vegetative debris to be ready for landscaping or composting.  The land for processing materials is in the final stages of being prepped, but due to Coronavirus related delays, the chipping of materials has been postponed.

Clean Sweep Frederiksted: Urban Garden (St. Croix) - The Urban Garden Workforce Program launched on January 21, 2020 with almost 20 members. Participants in the free program are learning the fundamentals of urban farming/gardening, including farming as a business, garden design, composting and weed management, vertical gardening, and bug management. The program has brought on local farmers to teach the courses and participants who attend at least 85% of the program will receive a paid plot at the Frederiksted Community Garden. This project aims to combat urban decay in Frederiksted by creating an opportunity to provide financial and food stability, social empowerment and beautifying empty and abandoned lots within the town of Frederiksted.

We Grow Food: Bordeaux Farmers Fruit Tree Restoration Project (St. Thomas) - The Fruit Tree Restoration Project is complete, with over 900 hours of volunteer labor serving 33 farmers and planting and distributing over 550 fruit trees on St. Thomas. These fruit trees will help restore the local ecosystem and agriculture industry, which were devastated during the 2017 hurricanes. The fruit trees are all looking healthy and are starting to bear fruit. A workshop on best practices for preparation of the fruit trees prior to hurricane season was held for local farmers, in partnership with the University of the Virgin Islands.

UVI Campus Recycling Project - The recycling pilot program has launched at UVI, which will be accompanied by an aggressive communication and marketing campaign. Roughly 2,000 beneficiaries have been served to date by placing indoor and outdoor recycling bins around the UVI campus on St. Thomas. The recycling bins were also deployed at a community Agriculture Fair on St. Croix to spread awareness. Funds continue to be used to support student ambassadors for the recycling program, who educate fellow students and do quality control on items placed into the various bins.

St. George Village Botanical Garden: Trees for St. Croix (St. Croix) - The Trees for St. Croix project is well underway, with over 960 tree orders placed. More than 6,000 trees have been planted in the new nursery and are being grown for distribution. Three community events have been held for World Food Day, Christmas Spoken Here, and the Crucian Coconut Festival.

University of the Virgin Islands (UVI): SEAS Your Tomorrow Program - The overarching goal of the Supporting Emerging Aquatic Scientists (SEAS) Your Tomorrow Program is to create a transferable model for broadening participation in STEM that uses innovative partnerships, support programming, and targeted interventions, to build scientific identity and increase interest and engagement in STEM by U.S. Virgin Islanders. Four undergraduate students from the UVI participated in early career research and professional experiences, including coral restoration and whelk surveys. Three Masters in Marine & Environmental Science students participated in the Bridge to the Ph.D. Program, where they completed an 8-week summer research experience at Pennsylvania State University.