Roots & Routes Campaign Brings Community Together to Celebrate Saba’s Trees

The Sea & Learn Foundation kicked off 2026 with a green initiative: “Roots & Routes,” a 12-week campaign celebrating Saba’s forests and diverse tree species while encouraging residents and visitors to explore the island’s outdoors.

Running from January through March, the campaign invited participants to discover trees across Saba’s five unique climate zones—from coastal areas to the lush cloud forest surrounding Mount Scenery. Through the Tree Hunt & Share, community members hiked local trails, photographed trees and plants, and uploaded their findings to the citizen science platform iNaturalist. These observations contribute valuable biodiversity data while helping people look more closely at the natural world around them.

To ensure everyone could take part, the campaign also introduced a Creative Tree Challenge, inviting people of all ages to submit tree-inspired artwork. Throughout the twelve weeks, the foundation shared weekly social media posts highlighting notable tree and plant species found on Saba, along with interesting facts about the island’s forest habitats and ecological zones.

The campaign wrapped up with a lively Tree Jeopardy Night at Colibri Cafe, where teams gathered to test their knowledge of Saba’s forests, trees, and habitats. The evening also celebrated community participation, with prizes awarded for Tree Hunt observations, creative artwork, and trivia champions.

Winners received a range of locally handcrafted prizes, including walking sticks, a handmade knife, coconut-carved keychains, woven manta ray artwork, and bamboo cutlery.

Through a mix of exploration, creativity, and citizen science, the Roots & Routes campaign helped reconnect the community with one of Saba’s most valuable natural assets—its forests.

The initiative was made possible with support from the Nature and Environmental Policy Plan (NEPP), protecting nature, reviving resources, and sustaining our islands.

Sea & Learn Foundation