Coco Hill Forest

Coco Hill Forest is a 53-acre regenerative agroforestry project started in 2014 by Mahmood Patel, hotelier, and filmmaker, originally looking to grow food locally and sustainably to substitute imported food in his hotel’s cafe at Ocean Spray Apartments. Due to the growing interest of visitors who came to see the farm in the first few years, Mahmood started creating hiking trails and offering guided tours of his food forest in the making.

The project now features 3.5km of hiking trails overlooking the east coast of Barbados and weaving through the regenerative agroforestry project and lush primary rainforest. On the west hill, we are using regenerative agroforestry methods and terracing to repair the ecosystem and prevent soil erosion, which was both affected by sugarcane monoculture in the area. On the east hill, we are looking to preserve the rare and unique biodiversity of one of the last pieces of primary forest standing on the island, as over 90% of it has been cut down already.

Mahmood Patel, Owner of Coco Hill Forest

Mahmood Patel

Mahmood Patel, the owner of Coco Hill Forest, used to be a filmmaker. His path to becoming an agriculturalist started around 2007 on a movie set in Senegal, during a discussion on creative industries in the Caribbean with Senegalese director Moussa Sene Absa, who told him:

“You people in Barbados can’t really talk about creative industries when everything you put in your mouth is imported…Food is the first art - a white plate is like a white page, and what you put on that plate is art. And if you don't own it, how can you then talk about being creative and owning your own sovereignty and identity?”

These words originally upset him. They resonated and stuck with him when he came back to Barbados. Then, following the 2008 financial crisis, what some call “the lost decade” in Barbados, Mahmood went through a journey of personal reinvention. Also the owner of a small hotel and café, Mahmood had another trigger pushing him toward food production.

“One day I was in the kitchen with the chef, and we looked at the storeroom. We looked at all the things there – they were all imported. Ginger, tamarind, mango, pineapples… It was 10, 11 years ago. And I was like, OK, this is not sustainable because those four items imported either fresh, in cans or in the form of jams actually grow very well locally.”

According to Mahmood’s research across the thin and very old literature on the subject, Barbados once had a rich flora, as both indigenous and European visitors would have brought plants on their way to other destinations (Hughes, 1750; Ligon, 1657; Schomburgk, 1848). The plants depicted on a 17th-century map (figure 1) give an idea of the diversity found on the island back then. For example, three to five varieties of pineapples still grew in Barbados in the early sugar days, brought by the Amerindians some 2000 years ago from Brazil and Venezuela to the Caribbean Island chain, with some accounts of 14-inch long “King Pine” (Ligon, 1657, p.83; Hughes, 1750).

Teak, cedar, oak, fustic, and mastic trees were also plentiful, with the latter being used to make the first rum barrels. But the focus on sugar cane for hundreds of years precipitated the erosion of that biodiversity and with it, the knowledge and appreciation of those treasures.

It then became part of Mahmood’s mission to retrace the knowledge of the lost biodiversity of Barbados in order to build it back and gradually substitute imports, starting with his hotel’s café, which he turned into a farm-totable project. Given the highly prohibitive cost of land in Barbados, Mahmood ended up buying 2013 a very hilly, bushy, and jungly 53-acre piece of land in the Scotland district, a hotspot of biodiversity on the island but also facing important land erosion issues. To prevent landslides, he built terraces and adopted a regenerative agroforestry approach to preserve the preexisting biodiversity. Planting over 70 species of various indigenous and tropical fruit trees, crops, and medicinal plants, Mahmood also started a nursery to propagate the species that would work best in the local soil.

Harvests were promising for a time. One of the main problems Coco Hill suffers from, like most crop farmers in Barbados, is monkeys. Brought from Africa by slavers in the 17th century (Dore, 2018), the uncontrolled population of Barbados’ green monkey (Chlorocebus sabaeus) does overwhelming damage to crops, especially to fruit crops in agroforestry settings.

Amidst fights with monkeys, Mahmood discovered a few rare species (tree ferns, Bajan ginger) that led him to believe that his land might host one of the last pieces of original or pre-colonial forest on the island, which has been preserved from the sugar cane invasion by its abrupt hills. Facing increasing problems with monkeys damaging his harvests and motivated by the demand of many friends who were amazed by their visit to the farm, Mahmood decided to create hiking trails and offer guided tours of the site on weekends. This is how the agrotourism aspect of the project was born.

COVID slowed down the operations, we started a volunteering program in December 2021 to get back on track. A regular group of local volunteers now come back week after week for the forest vibes (and Dukez’s delicious natural juices), and their number grows with occasional school groups and an increasing number of tourists who come looking for something more than the classic sun, sea, and sand.

Coco Hill, as we have joined the Alliance for Actions – Coconuts 2 Project, coordinated by the International Trade Center to create sustainable linkages between agriculture, agroprocessing, and tourism in the coconut industry in Barbados.

Coco Hill, as we have joined the Alliance for Actions – Coconuts 2 Project, coordinated by the International Trade Center to create sustainable linkages between agriculture, agroprocessing, and tourism in the coconut industry in Barbados.

Continuing on our mission to help create food security on the island and build back and protect the biodiversity that was lost to sugar cane monoculture, Coco Hill has many projects for the months and years to come. We are currently working on opening a cafe in the forest, hosting more events, and farming even more. We are also looking for investments to help us protect one of the last pieces of Barbados’ original forest and the precious knowledge that it holds.

Come visit, either to hike, learn or relax, we have some of the best views, breeze, and greenery on the island.

Tree Planting on Earth Day

VISIT

We are open every day for self-guided hikes, host volunteering activities every Saturday, and offer a Weekly Guided Tour every Sunday. Our decks and spaces can also be booked for private events, camping, or other activities. Contact us for info and bookings!

CONTACT

Landline: (246) 571-5520 WhatsApp: (246) 238-7199 Email: info.cocohillforest@gmail.com

FOLLOW

Instagram: @cocohillforest TikTok: @cocohill.forest Facebook: www.facebook.com/cocohillforest TripAdvisor: www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_ Review-g15292767-d12572117-Reviews-Coco_ Hill_Forest-Melvin_Hill_Saint_Joseph_Parish_ Barbados.html