ON Sunday, June 2, 2002 members of the Shettlewood Police Youth Club, Hanover, in collaboration with the St James Forestry Department, planted trees in honour of seven new babies that were born in their community over the past year.

The ceremony was celebrated to mark the beginning of World Environmental Awareness Week 2002 and included the old African tradition of planting each child’s “navel string” along with a fruit tree seedling.

This ritual, which is still done in parts of rural Jamaica, helps children develop a connection to their land and to the environment. Seven young families braved the rain with their babies to plant their child’s tree seedling, and the baby’s navel string, on a plot of family land.

Tree planting has been highlighted as important by the Shettlewood Police Youth Club due to the value trees have in preventing a range of environmental problems affecting the island. Trees are vital for soil stabilisation and preventing landslides, flashfloods and soil erosion. In addition trees provide important services such edible fruits and oxygen and are beautiful to look at.

This was the first environmental project of the Shettlewood Police Youth Club, which aims to foster good communication between the youth and the police of Shettlewood and its environs. The youth club has been in existence for the past six years. The group plans to make the ceremony an annual event.

The activity was supported by the Ridge to Reef Watershed Project, a five-year, US$6-million initiative between the Government of Jamaica and the Government of the United States through its Agency for International Development (USAID) that seeks to address watershed degradation in Jamaica.