Conservation Opportunity teamed up with the non-profit organization Olita to develop an environmental awareness activity to restore the Rompeolas beach in Aguadilla by July 17, 2021.
Local artist Billy Joe painting the yola. Photo by Irene Milagros
The event was called “El Rompeolas es del Barrio: Reunion of Art and Planting” because, with the help of residents of La Via and Cerro Calero, a planting of 100 trees donated by the non-profit organization, Para La Naturaleza, and a group of people, led by local artist Billy Joe with his workshop, “Carabambú”, painted an abandoned dinghy.
The same was positioned in front of a dinghy left by immigrants and through this artistic work is expected to honor those Haitian and Dominican immigrants who come to Puerto Rico in search of better lives. With this act, they wanted to try to unify the community to beautify the area and Billy Joe expresses his feelings of gratification with the following words.
Volunteers picking up trash. Photo by Irene Milagros
“This shocked me because it had been a long time since the students had been cooperating with the community like this. I have already gone to cooperate with different organizations, like Olita, who are the surfer kids, and I really like to preserve the environment. The first day we went to paint the dinghy, many people from the community came to help us. We went to pick up trash, and I spent two days there painting under the sun, but I liked the initiative they had to conserve the areas,‘ says Billy Joe, artist and leader of the Carabambú art workshop.
Volunteer girl helping to plant trees. Photo by Amilkar Cruz-Pastrana
Among the trees planted, 30 were beach grape (Coccoloba uvifera), 10 seedlings (Bursera simaruba), 30 Marias (Calophyllum antillanum), 25 San Bartolomés (Cordia rickseckeri) and 5 from Gitaran (Dodonea vigorosa). It should be noted that during the event, there were about 51 participants from the different organizations and 15 bags of garbage were collected after cleaning the area.
Through the activity, all of the entities involved had their established goal of helping. Many of them believe that another event like this can promote greater citizen cooperation in environmental protection in the Rompeolas area.
“To the extent that the neighborhoods and the community see these types of actions, they first see something different from the daily routine. From a monotonous day, seeing people cleaning, planting and painting changes their normal day. Therefore, when they see, they approach, ask questions and join in, maybe even see a new path. A common fact between neighborhoods is how identical the days are, which makes it like a cycle from which the inhabitants can't get out of poverty. To the extent that one can offer new opportunities, it breaks that cycle,” explains Gerardo Lebrón, founder of Olita. For Olita, its primary mission is to end the cycle of poverty in neighborhoods and give them a better life in the town of Aguadilla. They explain how the collaboration of those “improvised” participants leaves a mark on the projects, such as the man who decided to help bring down plants rather than go about his normal routine.
Photo by Irene Milagros
On the other hand, after evaluations of the location of the tree planting, it is estimated that, if there is a storm, the chances of damage will be minimal since it is not located very close to the coast, but in a wetland. “The breakwater beach structure was made artificially and coastal erosion is always occurring. In that place where we planted the trees, it was a bit removed from the coast as such and closer to the wetland. I understand that if there is erosion due to a storm or some natural situation that occurs on the beaches, the trees that will be most affected will be the palms that are already there, close to the shore. These new trees, I understand that they will last for a while and, in fact, they can help to support the land. The roots of the trees can help support the land to keep it from eroding further,” says Karlyn Grafals, Para La Naturaleza's Western Region Environmental Interpreter.
After this summer closing activity, it was considered a resounding success and a second event is expected with the collaboration of these entities and more people from the community. It is hoped that people will spread the word in order to support environmental conservation in Puerto Rico.
All the volunteers present at the activity. Photo by Irene Milagros