Port-Louis becomes even more unbearable in summer because greenery has been eliminated in favor of road infrastructure and reverberant buildings.s. Replanting darid forests today represents an imperative necessity to prevent the fires that ignite the Montagne every year from Signals and Small Mountain, on which the Fort Adelaide was built. Dominique Bellier
In a subtropical climate, forests are not necessarily humid, and dry forests are also part of our islands’ ecosystems. The forests that once covered the heights of the capital have disappeared under urban pressure. The four hectares of Petite Montagne’s northern flank were 82% covered with invasive exotic plants when Jayaneesh Namah began restoring them. These species are so flammable that they are known as “petroleum grasses”…
Replanting natives reduces this flammability, as they burn differently, containing enough water to stop the fire before it burns out . Whether deliberate or accidental due to a cigarette butt or an abandoned pint, these fires have become rare since the mass elimination of exotics such as American agave, and the planting of suitable native pioneer species such as reinette wood, Harungana and vetiver.
The soil is so arid in places that we have to help them survive until they reach adulthood and fruit. A large composter produces the amendments needed to enrich the soil with green waste collected locally. To combat drought, Jayaneesh adds biodegradable hydrogel to the soil around the roots, which prevents evaporation by swelling with water… Finally, instead of conventional watering hoses, we prefer locally found plastic bottles, which we plant directly around the roots, so that the water is neither wasted nor dispersed.
