Saturday, April 22, was a day of action and cel­ebration on Saba as the com­munity came together to cel­ebrate Earth Day. The day concluded a series of week­long events and activities aimed at promoting sustain-ability and conservation.

Earth Day celebrations be­gan on Wednesday, April 19, with a tree-planting event at Sacred Heart School and at Harry L. Johnson Mu­seum, where schoolchildren planted a variety of trees. With the help of the pub­lic entity Saba, pupils and teachers dug holes for the trees, carefully placing them in the ground ensuring that the trees are planted at the correct depth. The location and the trees were selected to aid the natural habitat and to enable a liveable environ­ment for local wildlife.

The tree planting plays a vital role in the reforestation project, aimed at rehabilitat­ing Saba’s indigenous envi­ronment through a diverse selection of native trees such as mahoganies, cedars and sea grapes. This project is to contribute towards the estab­lishment of a more robust and self-sufficient ecosystem on Saba.

The Earth Day festivities continued on Thursday, April 20, and Friday, April 21, with the annual island clean-up, organised by the public entity Saba. More than 100 volunteers from local organisations, schools, businesses and government departments came together to clean up around the vil­lages on the island.

According to Camilo Usu­ga, “Over 80% of the waste collected was bottles thrown over the walls.” This event serves as a reminder of the collective responsibility that everyone has to keep his/her environment clean and safe for all.

The clean-up event dem­onstrated the effectiveness of community-led initiatives in promoting environmental sustainability and preserving the natural beauty of Saba. The public entity Saba ex­pressed its gratitude to all the volunteers who took part in the event and urged the community to maintain their endeavours in keeping the is­land clean.

The week of Earth Day events concluded on Satur­day, April 22,with the Sus­tainable Fair at Juliana’s Sports Field. The fair fea­tured a range of local artists and vendors, along with ac­tivities aimed at promoting sustainable living and con­servation on Saba.

The highlights of the fair were the sustainable sculp­tures made by pupils and stu­dents of Saba Comprehensive School (SCS) with recycled materials. Jordan Every stated that the children were “excit­ed” to have a project to work on and present at the fair. “We wanted to make sure the groups creating the sculptures were equal, so the primary school students were divided into groups based on their house colours. and the sec­ondary school students were based on classrooms.”

Each sculpture was voted on by the community attending the fair. The sculptures includ­ed underwater environments such as “Sunshine Saba”, and ocean creatures like “Octo­world” and “Sea Nettle”.

Other exciting sculptures focused on land included the “Saba Well”, “Island Dia­mond Rebirth”, “Alberto”, and a vibrant tree decorated with flowers.

The winners of the sculp­ture were the Purple House with “Octoworld” and Form 2 with “Alberto”.

The fair was a great op­portunity for participants to learn about conservation and recycling, as well as to engage with local businesses working towards environ­mental sustainability.

“The Sustainable Fair has been a success, and it was wonderful to have all the stakeholders come together to create an event that en­courages the collaboration of creativity and sustainability.” Every said.

The Daily Herald.