Impact 7: Creating a Tiny Forest

Number of participants: 22

DAY 1

Today was a very entertaining and engrossing experience, I look forward to the second day where I get to share this experience with my fellow peers.- Damian Juddoo

• The first day was very interesting and I learned how to correctly use a hoe and a pickaxe. Overall it was a very pleasant experience. (Warren)

Oscar:

The first day was quite challenging as we had to seperate the 10 by 10 meter area in 100 square meters individually using strings and sticks. Moreover; we had to dig holes at least 3 cm deep and about 20 cm wide. Moreover, we encountered many challenges when digging those holes such as keeping 3 holes per square meter and keeping the pattern of three holes contant. Also, there were many objects such as roots and rocks that were blocking us from digging deeper into the ground. To add on, I broke one shovel due to the rocks that were getting in contact with the blade. Strings that were separating the square meters were often broken as they were not stuck to the ground and also very fragile. Finally, we managed to dig approximately 5/6th of the holes in one day and we had a great time. Ready for day 2!!!!

• Day 1 was quite a challenging experience since i have never had any exposure to gardening, however the teamwork was rather entertaining hence i look forward to the coming days to see the final result of the activity (Dhayna)

• (Christian) The first of working to create the tiny forest was energy demanding as there was a lot of physical involvement. The task consisted in marking the area that we were going to dig holes in using strings and bamboo sticks, then we started digging the holes using

• The first day was a very enriching experience as it allowed me to learn new skills. I had never been good at gardening but through the first day I managed to learn a lot. (Satyam)

• Creating a tiny forest was quite challenging for me given that I do not have a passion for gardening nor the strength needed for this ip activity. I now respect those who do this as a living as I underestimated the difficulty (Ritika).

• Today was very interesting as it was a very new experience which allowed me to develop new skills. I look forward to learning more on the second day. (Rohan)

• The first day of this experience was very challenging. We showed our perseverance through our commitment in completing this activity. (Shavin)

• Cic: The first day was very hard work. I didn't think it would be that tiring to dig holes, but it was a very nice experience. This allowed me to develop new skills.

• Ayman - Day 1: today the goal was to dig all 300 holes and mark out each square meter. My personal goal was to help dig 20 holes. I enjoyed clearing the land of rocks as well as digging the holes with the help of my friends

Goal for today: Eva

The group goal for today was to mark out each square and where the holes should go. My goal was to dig at least 15 holes.

What did I explore today?

Today I dug 15 holes as well as clearing the land of big rocks.

What have you learned today?

Today I learnt that digging in the dirt is not as easy as it seems. I also learnt different techniques on how to dig quickly and efficiently.

What did I like?

I enjoyed digging the first few holes and using the different tools.

What didn’t I like?

I didn’t like digging the last few holes as my hands were blistering and it was difficult for me to keep motivated.

Day 2

• Today was just as challenging as the previous day, however it was very rewarding to see the tiny forest start to form as we began to plant the endemic trees. We got much more done than yesterday as most of the holes were already dug and the rain blessed us which made the soil softer and holes easier to make deeper.(dhayna)

• Unfortunately I missed the first day, so this was my first time on the site. I must say it was something special! Everyone collaborated in a very impressive manner and we delegated tasks and responsibilities in a very efficient manner. I felt proud to be part of this team (Seb)

• The second day was a challenging one for me. We had to continue digging holes like the previous day. We then proceeded by placing the plants in the holes through a very complex structure. It was very difficult to arrange the plants appropriately. Moreover, we dealt with heavy rain which slowed down the process. But overall, it was a nice experience. (Satyam)

• Today was even better. We started actually planting most of the tree saplings that we had collected through donations. The process of planting was very interesting in the sense that I could see how my hard work was creating a very nice landscape within the area of the tiny forest project. (Damian)

• today was very tiring. I planned the location of each plant. making the diagram and making sure that each plant was written down on the plan. but seeing our development and the pot of land becoming like a forest is very rewarding. (vic)

• Today was better for me as most of the day involved planting the trees instead of actually digging holes. It was very interesting to manage the allocation of the trees and ensure that they were properly sorted. It was still a very demanding task but it was encouraging to see that we were making progress. (Rohan)

Oscar:

For the second day of this CAS experience, we got lucky as it rained during the night causing the soil to be softer and easier to dig in. Using the new tools we just got, we managed to dig in some holes that have been unblocked by soil that eroded with the rain and wind which fell back into the holes. After digging out all 300 holes of the 100 meter square area, we started planting the endemic trees that we got from the money we gathered. To plant, we had to organize ourselves as a team such that the pattern of trees does not get messed up (no similar trees should be next to each other). Once we figured out the pattern, we started to plant the trees in that order. This was the best part of the experience so far as it was starting to look like a real tiny forest. Unfortunately we did not have all the plants so we finished a bit early with 30 minutes to spare which we used to water the plants and tie them to bamboo sticks that we planted in the ground so that they do not fall during the night.

Ayman - as it rained the night before, the soil was softer and it was easier to dig the holes. We didn't do as much work as day 1 as the hardest part was to dig the holes, we put some of the plants in the holes and watered them. We did not get all the plants, so we had around 1 hour to spare

Eva

Today we finished up on digging the holes and started planting. The ground was way easier to dig as it had rained the following night causing the ground to be softer. Day 1 was definitely the hardest day as we didn’t have all the proper tools and we just had to continuously dig. I enjoyed watering the plants and digging the holes in the soft dirt.

Day 3

Seb

Again this day was very fulfilling; we did some planting and worked on the layout for the future plants. At times it was difficult to agree on the proper method of planting/ location, and to resolve these arguments we relied on the experts Jean Pierre and Jean Paul to act as mediators. This was imperative throughout the process.

Day 4

Oscar

For the third day, I was still a bit tired and less energetic due to my sickness but I took my medicines with me and went to school. My team and I had worked a lot since the first day and we were now only left with some ground covers and bushes to plant. Once this was over, we removed all the strings that separated the square meters and attached all trees and bushes with a stick and a rope such that it could hold in place. When we finished doing all the above, we watered all the plants and called it a day as we had finished planting the entire tiny forest. We finished so early that we got time to bond with teachers, gardeners with whom we played some rugby. It was great and I would love to see the results in two months time and I hope that this will showcase that we can combat against the global warming if we all do our part. I also hope that our work will restore the degraded land of Sant-Pierre and that the Endemic plants will spread in the area.

Seb- We finished all the planting today! I must admit that this filled me with a lot of relief, as I was somewhat worried that we wouldn’t finish the project within the week and would have to rely on the gardener and groundsmen to finish it for us, which I believed would be quite unfair towards them. We planted the majority of the groundcover and shrubs today, and followed a very systematic pattern to ensure that we respected the need for 1 tree, 1 shrub and 1 groundcover in each of the quadrants. To reward ourselves for this massive success we followed up by playing some touch rugby and by going to KFC.

Last Day:

Sebastien:

Day 5- Celebration and Advocacy: To celebrate the success of the tiny forest we hosted an event with all of the sponsors and invited the press to join us and document the opening of this project. Once again we had to do some planning for the foodstuff, drinks, napkins, plates and cutlery. However, we got to enjoy with the sponsors and gave them the tour of what we had accomplished. Moreover, we also had the opportunity to speak to 2 different local news agencies and tell them more about this awesome project. I was quite nervous to do so but despite that I feel that I spoke well and gave a good impression of the project. I hope that I may have motivated other youngsters around the island to similarly plant micro forests and taught them about endemic plants. However, in the future I feel that I should rehearse more before speaking as I may have omitted some important details. This is a definite area of growth for me!

Rohan Bhoyrul :

Creating a tiny forest was an extremely interesting experience that really helped me to develop as a person both physically and mentally. Throughout the whole week of when the experience took place, I faced many challenges as I had never done anything like this prior, which meant that I had some difficulties with tasks such as: digging the holes where we would place the plants and also having to cut bamboo sticks in order to attach one stick to each tree. These two activities in particular were extremely difficult as it required strength but also the correct technique which I did not know at first. However, after the first two days I had managed to get more comfortable with the different things that had to be done which made me way more efficient. Moreover, when working hard on creating this tiny forest, I realised the importance of preserving nature and the environment around us in order not to damage the biodiversity but also for our own sake. I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in this project and hope that I can participate in more tiny forest projects in the future to help a cause of great significance in my opinion.