Above: coconut palms

By the Caribbean Journal staff

St Kitts is looking to begin a wave of replanting after a disease decimated thousands of coconut palms across the island.

The government’s Department of Agriculture has acquired 3,000 plants as part of a wider replanting programme following the incidence of The Red Palm Mite, Lethal Yellowing and Bud Rot Disease.

“We have been on the losing end of a battle with the ‘Coconut Palm Complex,'” said Ashton Stanley, acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture.

The government said it would also look to ensure that the coconut replanting project was adopted by “green visitors to our shores” with their Coconut Tree Planting Programme.

The latter is a major feature of the government’s “Inter Agency Sustainable Destination’s Management Committee.”