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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - If you have been at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for any length of time, it is likely you have driven past the plant nursery. If you have not noticed, it is tucked behind a tall chain link fence beside the golf course. The nursery lies beneath the shade of some of the tallest trees at GTMO and is a small horticultural wonderland.
In the past, the nursery has been used to grow native and non-native plants for decorating homes around the base, but the future holds another, equally vital role for the nursery.
As of fiscal year 2015, funding has been allocated for the development of a vegetation management plan. When the plan is finalized in 2017, it will allow the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Public Works Department to aid the local ecosystem, in part by propagating native and other non-harmful plants and helping distribute them.
Parts of the vegetation management plan will be implemented between now and 2017, said Joe Madison, Natural Resources manager for the NAVSTA PWD, as well as many, many years afterward.
“From a strictly nursery standpoint,” said Madison. “The work to be done there including installing irrigation, constructing additional shade structures and putting an electric fence around the outside to reduce hutia damage within the nursery will start next Friday, Feb. 19.”
Ideally, the nursery will help spearhead a move away from non-native or eco-unfriendly plants within the greater GTMO community, toward a healthier ecosystem, said Madison.
While the nursery has been here for many years, it began to languish, until volunteers took responsibility for the area and began to care for the nursery. Now, it provides not only educational, volunteer and relaxation opportunities for residents, it also provides a platform to affect positive change for the future, said Madison.
The plant nursery provides a simple and rewarding volunteer opportunity; it also provides free, mostly local plants for adoption to help residents beautify their living space during their stay here.
The only caveat, said Misty Heath, facilities management assistant with NAVSTA PWD, is if you are preparing to leave the island, the nursery asks you to return the plants you adopted so they can be re-homed.
“We’ve got agave, and our ornamental pineapples are always a favorite,” said Heath. “We’re open the first and third Saturday of every month for the public to come in, and each person can adopt one plant.”
A large part of the nursery’s success has been due to the support of the local volunteer community.
“We rely heavily on volunteers, we don’t really have a budget so we need all the help we can get,” said Heath, who spends much of her free time at the nursery. The nursery relies on volunteers to water plants, build structures, rake and see to the general maintenance and health of the area, said Heath.
Madison said he believes the nursery impacts the residents here in many ways.
“I don’t think there is any question that the nursery is an important piece of the Naval Station Guantanamo Bay community for many of the local residents,” said Madison. “Whether it is just getting your hands dirty working in a garden or using raking as a stress reliever or just enjoying the company of others who have an interest in plants.”
The nursery is open every Saturday for volunteers from 8 to 11 a.m., volunteers can take home a plant with them each time they volunteer, a feature that both incentivizes volunteering, and ensures wide distribution of the hard-won fruits of the nursery’s labor. Otherwise, interested parties can adopt on the first and third Saturdays of each month.
| Date Taken: | 02.19.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.02.2016 10:03 |
| Story ID: | 190818 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: | 548 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, GTMO plant nursery - Greenhouse for healthy future, by SSG LeAnne Withrow, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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