The Millennium Forest project is a long-term effort to help restore the great wood that once covered an area in the east of the island.
14 million years ago volcanic activity formed the island of St Helena with a land area of 123 square kilometres (47 square miles) and for 99% of this time the island was left to its own devices. Discovery of the island was not until the 21st May 1502 when the Portuguese named it St Helena, however they did not establish permanent settlements. The British colonised the island in 1659, establishing permanent settlement immediately.
The Great Wood was the largest expanse of forest on St Helena and was home to an unknown number of birds, plants and insects now extinct such as the giant earwig. The Great Wood was entirely destroyed as settlers cut down the trees for firewood, used the bark for tanning- thereby unnecessarily killing them, and allowed goats and other introduced animals to graze on the saplings.
50 years after the British colonised the island, in a report from the governor in council he complained: ‘The island in 20 years time will be utterly ruined for want of wood, for no man can say there is one tree in the great wood, or other wood less than 20 years old. Consequently, it will die with age’
The site of the Great Wood eventually became semi-desert. In the summer months particularly, the hot south westerly winds sucked all the moisture from the ground, turning the soil to sand. Soil erosion is still a big problem on this windward side of the island.
The Year 2000
The decision was made to embark upon a historic reforestation project which would inevitably need to continue for decades if most of the area previously occupied by the Great Wood was again to become an established forest. Launched in 2000 with tremendous energy from the island community, the area designated for reforestation was named the Millennium Forest.
Almost every islander paid for a tree with many of them planting their trees themselves. During the first phase about 3000 trees were planted, a car park laid out and a gatehouse built. The total land area designated for reforestation has been extended in the course of the last 23 years and is now 250 hectares.
Reforestation work has been carried out, planting endemic tree species. There are several species which are all Critically Endangered that make up the Millennium Forest:
Gumwood (Commidendrum robustum)
Dwarf ebony (Trochetiopsis ebenus)
Boxwood (Withania begoniifolia)
The reforestation work now in hand is the toughest phase of the entire cycle of events. The project currently supports three full time staff who are constantly involved with watering trees as well as seed collection and planting new areas. They have to combat problems caused by infestation, particularly mealy bug and invasive species which can overrun saplings. The failure rate in newly planted areas can be high and re-planting is another sizeable aspect of the workload.
Around the area of the forest are large water holding tanks which provide a supply of rainwater. Additionally, the forest creates its own compost for planting seeds. Using natural waste and letting it decompose as well as being provided with waste fish product from the fish processing factory which provides a nutrient rich compost.
Over the years there have been improvements made with an educational building constructed, and two planting houses to help the growth of endemic seedlings before planting as well as the setup of vegetable planting to provide seedlings for the community which people can buy at an affordable price, helping to generate money for the project. In addition to this, the staff at the forest create planters out of material which has been thrown away and is upcycled and sold to generate funds.
In 2020 the forest celebrated 20 years with many events were carried out across the course of the year, helping to highlight the efforts that had been undertaken in the previous years.
The Millennium Forest is a community focused project, providing a space for events at certain times of the year such as the sustainability fair and stargazing. It is also a space for people to come and have picnics, with benches situated within the forest. The education building and the forest area gives a space for the Trust to educate school children about the endemic plant species and invertebrates that the forest supports such as the Gumwood leafhopper.
Funding for the Millennium Forest is currently supported by the John Ellerman Foundation, with additional funding coming from the sale of vegetable seedlings, planters and from people that pay to plant a tree.
