The International Day of Forests holds particular significance for The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) this year, as it marks the culmination of the company’s successful 18-year Reforestation Programme. The reforestation sites that have been rehabilitated under the Programme were ceremoniously handed over to the stewardship of the Forestry Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries on Tuesday 21 March during an event hosted at the natural heritage site, San Fernando Hill.

NGC, in keeping with its “No Net Forest Loss” Policy, under the Cross Island Pipeline Project (CIPP), Beachfield Upstream Development (BUD) Project and Union Industrial Estate (UIE) Development Project, implemented a Reforestation Programme in August 2005. The first phase of the project involved the rehabilitation of 105 hectares in the south-eastern Forest Conservancies, while in the second phase, 210 hectares were reforested in the Morne L’Enfer Forest Reserve, for a total of 315 hectares.

The planted trees have actively contributed to national emissions reduction efforts and this contribution has been definitively measured through above ground and below ground carbon sequestration studies conducted in partnership with The University of the West Indies (The UWI), St. Augustine Campus. The quantitative data has shown that as at 2021 a total of 10,373 tons of carbon have been sequestered as a result of NGC’s reforestation efforts.

Read More »

NGC Director, Dr. Donnie Boodlal, symbolically hands over NGC’s Reforestation Programme to Senator the Honourable, Avinash Singh, Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries.
(L to R) Mr. Alister Narinesingh, Social Responsibility Officer II, NGC; Ms. Lisa Burkett, Senior Manager, Corporate Sustainability, NGC; Mr. Manohar Mahabir, Supervisor, NGC Reforestation Programme; Dr. Donnie Boodlal, Director, NGC; Dr. Lena Dempewolf, Biodiversity Specialist, Ministry of Planning and Development; Professor Emeritus, John Agard, The UWI; Mr. Myles Lewis, Head Corporate Social Responsibility, NGC; and Mr. Danny Dipchansingh, Conservator of Forests, Forestry Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries.
Members of the Grant’s Trace Reforestation Group pictured with Mr. Alister Narinesingh, Social Responsibility Officer II, NGC (back row, 1st on the left); Dr. Donnie Boodlal, Director, NGC (back row, 4th from the left); Ms. Lisa Burkett, Senior Manager, Corporate Sustainability, NGC (first row, 3rd from the left); and Mr. Myles Lewis, Head, Corporate Social Responsibility, NGC (first row, 4th from the left)