Caribbean Beat — January/February 2018 (#149)

Green
WhAT follows
the storm
When Hurricane Maria tore through Dominica
in September 2017, lives were lost, homes
destroyed, and businesses crippled. But the
storm also took a toll on forests and wildlife —
with major implications for an economy that
depends on eco-tourism. Paul Crask reports
Photography by Paul Crask
In the silent, misty morning after the
hurricane, it both felt and looked
like the end. With sustained winds
recorded at 220 miles per hour, and
gusting off the scale, the devastation
wreaked by Hurricane Maria was so brutal
and stark that it brought me to my knees.
Lush forests were transformed to
naked hillsides of leafless, skeletal shards
that were once trees but now looked more
like ghosts. Some had even had been
stripped of their bark. Around eighty
percent of Dominica’s 25,000 homes
were damaged, with most losing at least
the roof. Businesses were destroyed and
wantonly looted, lives had been lost, and
others were declared missing. A stunned
silence reigned.
While the socio-economic and infrastructure
damage, clean-up, and repair
became the immediate focus of the collective
recovery efforts, the effect of the
storm on the island’s natural heritage was,
understandably, of secondary concern.
It was not until the fourth week of the
aftermath that I happened to hear a local
radio broadcast discussing the impact of
the hurricane on nature.
“Nature takes care of itself,” said one
expert, urging us not to worry about it
too much, yet acknowledging that the
revival of the island’s nature and wildlife
was important for tourism. Increasingly,
Dominica’s natural and cultural heritage
are linked to tourism revenue, rather than
something that ought to be preserved
and celebrated in its own right. With
the advent of destination marketing,
nature has, rather unfortunately, become
regarded as an eco-tourism product.
Dominica’s habitats range from dry
and littoral woodlands on its coasts to
cloud forest atop its many volcanic peaks.
But the predominant habitat, covering
around eighty percent of the island, is
rainforest. The island’s rainforest is home
to a diverse and fragile ecosystem that
includes around two hundred species of
fern and rare birds such as the regionally
endemic rufous-throated solitaire (or
mountain whistler), four species of hummingbird,
twelve species of bat, and the
locally endemic and endangered red-neck
(Jaco) and imperial (Sisserou) parrots.
Hiking trails, often developed from
historic traces used by Kalinago and
Maroons, weave through this habitat in a
vast but hidden network, and have become
a draw for independent travellers with
a love of the outdoors and unexplored
places. Waterfalls, countless rivers, crater
lakes, and one of the densest clusters of
volcanoes beyond the Pacific Rim have
earned the Morne Trois Pitons National
Park UNESCO status, and Dominica
has long branded itself the Caribbean’s
“Nature Island.” With most hotels describing
themselves in some shape or form
as eco accommodation, and with many
people employed in the eco-tourism
service sector, nature has indeed become
inextricably linked to earnings.
Nature does take care of itself,
and, thankfully, there’s been no
suggestion anyone should interfere
with its recovery in Dominica. But the
leaves that were beginning to reappear on
trees four weeks after the hurricane were
far from a canopy. And a rainforest really
needs a canopy.
Without a full leaf canopy, the forest is
exposed to full sunlight, and plants that
are opportunistic and sun-loving will tend
to occupy the spaces on the forest floor
that were previously the domain of those
that prefer the shade, and upon which
other plants, mammals, reptiles, birds,
insects, amphibians, and invertebrates
are dependent. Without a canopy, birds
such as the two endemic parrot species
have no natural source of food, and will
seek fruits elsewhere, usually in gardens
or citrus plantations. In the weeks following
the hurricane, people observed the
Jaco parrot foraging in such places. In late
November, there was finally a confirmed
sighting of the Sisserou. Given that it
exists only in Dominica — and is the
national bird, appearing on the country’s
flag — there is real concern that the species
could be pushed closer to extinction.
Recent studies of the effect of hurricanes
on forests have been made in Brazil,
Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. Conclusions
are varied, as are estimates of how long it
takes for a forest to fully recover — ranging
from fifty to four thousand years. But
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