Wa Samaki Ecosystems

Wa Samaki Ecosystems is a 33-acre estate, established in 1988, in Central Trinidad that has been inspiring and educating the public on regenerative agriculture and permaculture. It sustains itself through the production and sale of organic produce, cut flowers and tropical fish as well as its ongoing workshops. Over its 21 years of existence, it has re-afforested the majority of its landscape to also support biodiversity and wildlife. The estate serves as a demonstration site for the consulting arm of the organization, Caribbean Permaculture Consultants. Every year, Wa Samaki Ecosystems hosts a Permaculture Design Course, that empowers individuals to take action to fight land degradation and climate change. One of the highlights from the course is teaching participants how to propagate and utilize vetiver grass as a multifunctional element in their regenerative designs. As vetiver grass propagates so quickly, it is one of the superstars in regenerative design, allowing for soil stabilization, erosion control, biomass production, craft, essential oil and natural building. Wa Samaki Ecosystems has used vetiver grass in the past to stabilize newly constructed pond edges and water channels. It currently also utilizes vetiver for a variety of alternate uses not normally associated with the grass. To support its organic production, vetiver grass is planted all along the edges of the production beds where it helps to trap nutrients leaching out from the beds during heavy rainfall and converts these nutrients into leaf biomass that is constantly cut and returned to the production beds as mulch. This ‘Chop and drop’ system eliminates the need of harvesting/raking/transporting mulch from other parts of the estate while greatly reducing the amount of weeding needed and eliminates the exposure of bare soil to erosive rainfall. Wa Samaki Ecosystems also utilizes vetiver grass as a fibre added to clay and sand mixes for natural building projects including adobe bricks and tapia (wattle and daub) construction. The grass is harvested, dried and chopped before being added into the mixes. Wa Samaki Ecosystems offers tours to anyone interested in making a positive change for the environment. Workshops and courses can be viewed on its Facebook Page. Feel free to contact Wa Samaki with any questions or comments you may have.