Acklins Residents Push to Protect Cascarilla as Demand Grows

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ACKLINS , BAHAMAS – In the bush of Acklins, harvesters are cutting cascarilla, a plant that may not look like much, but is now in high demand globally.

Its bark is used to flavor popular drinks, but here at home, it’s helping put money in people’s pockets, and with prices climbing, more people are getting into the business.

Forestry Officer Kirk Cunningham said that surge is already showing in the field.

Kirk Cunningham – Forestry Officer, Bahamas Forestry Unit

“Because of the higher costs, a lot more persons are now going out to harvest cascarilla. Because of that, we soon gonna run out of the cascarilla stock.”

That increase also comes with concerns that too much harvesting could hurt the industry in the long run.

There’s now a push to balance growth with protection.

A local cooperative has formed, focusing on sustainable harvesting and finding new ways to add value to the product right here at home.

Acklins Islanders Cooperative Chairman, Phillip Williamson, said they knew from the start sustainability had to come first.

Phillip Williamson – Chairman, Acklins Islanders Cooperative Society Ltd.

“I said from the very outset, when they asked me to spearhead the cooperative, if there’s one thing we have to do right from the outset, it is to look at sustainability, because the minute the price starts going up, you’ll have more cutting of the bark. How do we do that?”

Forestry Unit Supervisor, Latanya Williams, said there also needs to be stronger oversight to protect the industry long term.

Latanya Williams – Supervisor, Bahamas Forestry Unit

“And it’s more or less important for the government to help regulate the activities in terms of what are the best practices, to help cascarilla harvesters maintain the product for long-term purposes, while also trying to increase the maximum sustained yield.”