22
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 3 MARCH 2019
ENVIRONMENT
Linton Arneaud is a PhD candidate in environmental biology at the Department of Life Sciences. He is currently a teaching assistant at the department.
In today’s fast paced world,
only commodities with high
monetary value are deemed important by society. To some,
trees may be considered the only sustainable building
product that can be found anywhere in the world, while to
others, they are often viewed as one of many raw-materials
used to manufacture “important” products. But have
you ever wondered how much an individual tree costs?
Much to the surprise of many, an average tree surviving
approximately 50 years is worth an estimated TT$1.2million
dollars
(Das. 1979; Treecycling. 2018).
Trinidad and Tobago has a range of habitats for a family
of plants that are an outstanding green investment – palms.
Palms are floweringmonocotyledon evergreen trees, shrubs
and climbers that only grow in the tropics.They are themost
cultivated plant group in the world, next to the cereals (rice,
wheat and corn). The palm is considered the “prince of the
plant kingdom” since they have some of the largest seeds
of any plant group in the world, most of which are edible.
Trinidad and Tobago is treasured by many botanists for
its range of habitats that support interesting palm species.
TREES MITIGATE AIR QUALITY
AND STORMWATER RISK
Trinidad andTobago, being one of the few industrialised
Caribbean economies, should be very cautious about
managing urban stormwater andmunicipal air quality, and
should follow other developed countries that spendmillions
of dollars mitigating air quality and urban storm water risk
in cities. For example, according to RAND Corporation,
heavy smog and fog blankets in most cities in China cost
PalmTrees:
AGreen Investment
B Y L I N T O N A R N E A U D
Planting indigenous palms along the nation’s highways will not only save future governments millions of
dollars, but enhance the health and well-being of its citizens. For example, a tree 10 meters tall with a
diameter at breast height (DBH) of 20 cm living over 50 years is worth just under TT$1,000,000.
Air Quality
Improvement
$201,000
Visual Appearance
Improvement
(Tourism)
$101,049
Underground
Water Purification
$241,200
Filters Urban
Pollutants
$201,000
CO
2
Sequestration
$201,000
ReducedWind Speed
(Decreased Air Dust)
Floodwater RunoffReduction
Reduction in Temperature
$?
GreenAssets
the Chinese economy trillions of dollars annually, not to
mentioned kills approximately 1.5 million people yearly
(CNBC 2016). In the Caribbean, millions of dollars are
lost due to raging urban storm waters as a result of passing
tropical waves (particularly in Haiti, Cuba, Dominica, the
Bahamas, and in recent times Trinidad).
The island of Trinidad represents the northernmost
distribution of moriche palms (
Mauritia flexuosa
), while
both islands represent the southernmost distribution of the
Cocothrinax
genus. Palm ecosystems in Trinidad and Tobago
play an integral part in air purification, carbon sequestration,
flood water retention, water purification and aquifer
replenishment, which benefit local communities immensely.
Healthy palms such as the moriche palm and royal palm
(
Roystonea oleracea
) can grow for well over 150 years; hence
one can only imagine the value of these palms given the many
ecological services they provide throughout their lifespan.
PLANT PALMS ALONG HIGHWAYS
With the establishment of the Trinidad and Tobago
Green Council Building (TTGBC) in 2010 and the support
of private recycling companies such as, Recycling inMotion
(RIM) andCaribbean Battery Recycling Limited (CBRL), we
have already taken steps toward “sustainable development”,
however there is much more to be done since commercial
and residential buildings are increasing by the day; clogging
underground water systems and reducing air quality within
our cities and on our highways. I propose that we focus more
heavily on sustaining our “green assets” throughout urban
areas while we are in the “green”. This would save future
governments millions.
Additionally, native palm trees should be favored over
exotic trees as they are slender and tall, ideal for growing
in urban environments where space may be a limiting
factor. Planting indigenous palm species is better for several
reasons. Often, exotic trees do not live as long as local
palms and require much more maintenance work (such as
consumables, equipment andmanpower to irrigate, fertilise,
apply pesticides, prune, trim and dispose of branches).
I propose planting local palms along highways. On
the medium strip, solitary high fire-tolerance, medium
single-stem palms should be planted—for example Gru-
gru boeuf (
Acrocomia aculeata
). Along the side strips,
high fire-tolerance larger palms capable of surviving in
degraded lands should be planted—for example the cocorite
palm (
Attalea maripa
). The decision as to what palm
species should be planted along what highway needs to be
carefully considered by the people and governments; factors
such as wildfire hazard, undesirable wildlife and insect
establishment should be considered during the decision
making process, amongst other constraints.
But despite these relatively minor constraints, planting
palms is a more than worthwhile investment. Imagine a
world, years from now, when the citizens of Trinidad and
Tobago can drive along the highways and enjoy not only the
majestic beauty of our palm trees, but also the benefits of
cleaner air and less risks of flood. That’s the kind of world
we should leave for succeeding generations. And we can.
The time is now.
Figures modified from: Nancy Beckham,
“Trees: Finding their True Value”, Australian Horticulture, August 1991; and The Agricultural Extension Services – University of Tennessee. “What Are Those Plants Worth?” 2001.
Values here were based on other countries and the value of a tree in Trinidad and Tobago will vary according to several factors. These values are meant to sensitise individuals on the monetary importance of a tree.
(cost in $TT)
