Walkers Reserve
Regenerating a degraded sand quarry landscape into a thriving ecosystem, fostering biodiversity and community resilience
Where extraction reigned, regeneration blooms
In the heart of Barbados' National Park, Walkers Reserve, sprawling across 277 acres, now stands as a testament to nature's innate resilience, local collaboration and wisdom, and the dedication of its team of regenerative practitioners over 10 years.
Our partners at Walker’s Reserve have trail blazed a model of regeneration that is the largest of its kind in the Caribbean, illustrating the potential for reversing climate change through increasing biodiversity, enriching soils, restoring watersheds, and enhancing ecosystem services.
A Transformative Vision
As global temperature increases, Small Island Development States (SIDS) like Barbados become even more vulnerable to sea level rise, altered rainfall patterns, and storm surges. Over 43 million people live in the Caribbean, where the effects of climate change could render entire cities underwater, displacing millions of people.
Led by the Walkers Institute for Regenerative Research Education and Design (WIRRED), Walkers Reserve demonstrates climate resilience through biodiversity enhancement, soil enrichment, watershed restoration, and ecosystem service optimization. This integral approach combines climate-resilient agriculture, soil carbon development, water resource management, local food security enhancement, and employment opportunities while serving as a hub for climate education and ecological tourism.
Biodiversity Preservation
Wander through the estuary lagoon and riverine tributaries, where life pulses in harmony with the tides. Explore the rugged beauty of thorny scrub and coastal shrublands. Climb the undulating dunes, from embryonic sand hills to majestic dune forests. In the shade of the coastal dry forest and coconut groves, witness the delicate balance of life. Here, regenerative agroforestry isn't just a concept - it's a living, breathing reality, with multi-species orchards anchoring steep slopes against the Caribbean winds. After 10 years of regenerative landscape shift, this 3.3 km stretch of coastline now hums with the energy of over 188 plant species and the songs of 60+ bird species, a symphony of biodiversity that echoes from the sandy shores to the coral reefs beyond.
Walkers Reserve is far more than a nature preserve. It's a living laboratory, a classroom without walls, and a beacon of hope for a region on the front lines of climate change. Here, visitors and researchers alike can witness firsthand how degraded habitats can be transformed into engines of sustainable biodiversity and community well-being.
As the largest project of its kind in the Caribbean, the Walkers Reserve stands as a model of what's possible for other bioregional hubs. As an active Caribbean climate laboratory, climate resilient education center, eco-tourism destination, and active restoration site, Walkers Reserve offers both inspiration and practical solutions for a local community and larger world grappling with the ecological impact of climate change.
Where industrial extraction transforms into a model of ecological and human prosperity
FAQs
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Barbados, 2024
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Park curation, biodiversity credit architecture, landscape design, business, financial and master plan phase 1 implementation planning
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Discovery Report (existing business assessment), Infrastructure Report (defining implementation plan for Master Plan phase 1 implementation), Financial Projections (capital infrastructure, future and current businesses), Natural Capital Assessment (biodiversity credit architecture)
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Inter-American Development Bank, Conservation International, Regen Network, WIRRED