On Sunday 9th October 2022, the Walkers Institute for Regenerative Research Education and Design (WIRRED) partnered with Scotiabank, the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), the Caribbean Tree Planting Project (CTPP) and the Caribbean Climate Network (CCN) for a day of Climate Action at Walkers Reserve. This is in recognition of the Barbados International Coastal Clean-up (coordinated by CYEN), Caribbean Tree Planting Week (coordinated by CTPP) and the Week of Climate Action (coordinated by CCN).

Dawn Jemmot-Lowe, Senior Manager and HR Business Partner at Scotiabank Barbados brought greetings on Sunday saying, “At Scotiabank, we believe that long-term economic growth must co-exist with strong environmental action. We’re proud to collaborate with WIRRED in helping make a positive environmental impact. Our employees came out today to support the initiatives as we work towards ensuring a sustainable future for Barbados.”

Dawn Jemmot-Lowe, Scotiabank Senior Manager and HR Business Partner

A total of 60 volunteers from all partner groups and the Caribbean Permaculture Research Institute (CPRI) participated in a beach clean-up of Walkers Beach, one of the most popular nesting sites for leatherback turtles in Barbados. Eighty-five trees and plants were also placed in the ground at Walkers Reserve as part of WIRRED’s One Tree for Every Bajan programme. Volunteers were also joined by Dewyn Phillips, head of The National Tree Planting Project and each tree planted counts towards the national vision of planting 1 million trees.

Volunteers at Walkers Beach

Walkers Reserve is one of the most unique destinations in Barbados. This 277 acre space has been regenerated from a sand quarry to a living laboratory and thriving model of climate resilience. It is the largest regeneration project in the region. WIRRED as the non profit organization and charity which manages the project, continues to engage with myriad partners to meet the goals of environmental conservation and regeneration to increase biodiversity, develop natural habitats and build awareness around fighting climate change. WIRRED’s flagship initiative, the One Tree for Every Bajan programme, has seen over 110,000 trees and plants placed in the ground, moving Barbados closer to the national goal of planting 1 million trees. We encourage everyone to take action, get involved and give nature a voice!