It’s officially Earth Day and the Friends of the Park will be celebrating all week long!!
Friends of Virgin Islands National Park’s 15th annual Earth Day celebration includes coastal cleanups, a community plant giveaway, tree planting and the Earth Day Fair and Litter Stomp for school students.
“Our theme this year is Growing For Tomorrow perfectly encapsulating the importance to our planet of investing in the future by taking action today be it planting, trash collection or educating our youth,” Tonia Lovejoy, Executive Director of Friends of Virgin Islands National Park said. “The global celebration of Earth Day is a perfect reminder that the protection of natural and cultural resources can only succeed if it engages and feeds the hearts and minds of people. On St. John we embrace the opportunity to excite and engage our youth as the environmental stewards of the future and celebrate the passion and support of some 30 local organizations and businesses who share our
belief that lots of small actions add up.”
Earth Week on St. John began with beach and marine debris cleanups on Saturday, April 20. Volunteers joined Friends of Virgin Islands National Park at Drunk Bay. Thank you so much to the following individuals and businesses that scheduled additional volunteer beach cleanups over the weekend:
- LEINSTER BAY | Lila Uzzell
- HART BAY | STJ Yacht Club
- NORTH & SOUTH HAULOVER | Salty Daze Charters
- HONEYMOON | Caneel Bay Beach Club
- JUMBIE | Rotary Club
- MAHO | Reef2Peak
- JOHNSONS | Kids And The Sea (KATS)
- HAWKSNEST | 340 Real Estate
- CRUZ BAY | Low Key
- BEACH TBD | Lime Out
Today, Friends of Virgin Islands National Park will host an annual environmental fair in Franklin Power Park for school students focused on learning how to work and live sustainably in the Virgin Islands. The Earth Day Fair will kick off with a Litter Stomp Parade lead by VI Waste Management’s Litter Critter with a pizza party prize for the class in each school with the most creative Litter Stomp Crew.
Booths at the fair hosted by community organizations, businesses, and UVI students will cover subjects as diverse as coral reef protection, history, birds, plants, turtles, recycling, and mangrove protection. This lively event also includes a National Park Service Junior Ranger Award ceremony for St. John and St. Thomas Fourth Graders and recognition for waste management workers.
Earth Day Fair Booths 2024
- Sea Turtle Protection | Park Sea Turtle Protection team
- Flora & Fauna | Park Trail Crew
- What Friends does | Friends of VINP
- Know Your Park | National Park Service
- Our Marine World | National Park Service
- Historical Cruz Bay | St John Historical Society
- Meet the Litter Critter & Waste Management Best Practices | VIWMA
- Soil & Water Conservation | Dept of Agriculture
- Birds, Birds, Birds | Audubon Society
- Recycle Right | Island Green Living
- All About Mangroves | Grimes Lab, UVI
- STEM Tools & Gadgets | VI Epscor
- Save Our Reefs | UVI Coral Conservation
- On The Water | UVI Marine Advisory Service
- Rotary Club of St. John
- Watershed Management | Coral Bay Community Council
- Celebrate Our Earth Face Painting | St John School of the Arts
- Energy & Water Conservation | VI Water & Power Authority
- Coral Reef Health & Lionfish Threats | CORE Foundation
- Traditional Cultural Uses of Plants & Crafts | Ital Delroy Anthony
In the spirit of planting for the future, community members are invited to attend a Plant Giveaway on Wednesday, April 24 in the National Park Visitor Center Pavilion in Cruz Bay to find the perfect plant for their yard. The giveaway will be held from 8am to 10am. In addition, the walkup volunteer trail crew program that takes place on Tuesdays and
Thursdays will be planting! Over the past 4 years, Friends of Virgin Islands National Park supported by countless volunteers, local horticultural experts like Eleanor Gibney, the Virgin Islands National Park, and generous donors, have cultivated and planted over 1,000 trees on St. John’s north shore beaches to replace vegetation lost to storms, help increase soil stabilization and prevent erosion.
EARTH WEEK EVENT SCHEDULE
SATURDAY April 20 | Beach Cleanups
MONDAY April 22 | Earth Day Fair & Litter Stomp Parade
TUESDAY April 23 | Trail Crew Volunteer Planting
WEDNESDAY April 24 | Community Plant Giveaway
THURSDAY April 25 | Trail Crew Volunteer Planting
Earth Day events were made possible thanks to Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park’s partners and sponsors: Liberty Foundation, Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority, USVI Sports, Park & Recreation, USVI
Tourism, and Virgin Islands National Park.