The Disaster Arborist Response Team’s Craig Parker reflects on the experience of tackling the dangerous Manchineel tree while the team was overseas, providing help to the hurricane-hit island of Carriacou.

“YOU must beware of the Manchineel tree. It’s highly toxic and its sap will burn you.” This was the first thing explained to me about the Manchineel tree by a very helpful – and slightly eccentric – Carriacou islander. 

In July this year I was deployed with DART (Disaster Arborist Response Team) to the Grenadines, specifically to the island of Carriacou, which had been absolutely destroyed by Hurricane Beryl.

The first category five of the hurricane season had passed directly over the island and, in around 14 minutes, wiped out homes, businesses and utilities. Our mission was to clear trees, help open access and to teach the appropriate local agencies in cutting and clearing techniques, ensuring once the DART team left, work to rebuild the community would continue. 

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It’s hard to describe how destruction of this magnitude made me feel. I imagine it’s different for every individual, but what I noticed first were the trees. It was hard for me to identify any trees in the first place as they were all relatively unknown species to me. I’d only ever seen them in books. Added to this was the fact the hurricane had stripped most of the bark and leaves, making identification almost impossible. Seeing trees in this sorry state in an area where flora and fauna are usually so highly celebrated put a lump into my throat for the first few days. 

With the words of warning about the Manchineel still ringing in the back of our minds, the team was very thorough in identifying all trees prior to cutting. About a week into the deployment we got our first Manchineel tree and everyone looked nervously excited to start work on it. 

the team was very thorough in identifying all trees prior to cuttingThe team was very thorough in identifying all trees prior to cutting (Image: Supplied)

The tree had fallen onto a local woman’s beach bar roof and was threatening to collapse it further. The bar owner and her husband had warned us of the tree being a Manchineel and its related risks and kindly offered us some chemical spray suits, donated by the adjacent boatyard. 

These suits are hot and uncomfortable normally, but in almost 40-degree heat and wearing a full climbing system while wielding a ground saw, uncomfortable becomes unbearable. My teammate Owen and I both struggled to work longer than 10 minutes at a time dismantling the Manchineel (or ‘little apple’ tree, as it’s known).

While cutting in our additional PPE, which were essentially human boil-in-the-bag suits, Owen and I began to notice how heavily the tree would bleed its toxic white sap and how sticky it was.

We had to factor in how to dismantle it while ensuring we weren’t spreading sap over ourselves and equipment – and without falling through the tin roof. 

After a few hours of cutting and some great rigging suggestions from Owen on how to roll the tree from the roof, our mission was accomplished. With the tree removed and made safe and a great practical lesson on dismantling and rigging delivered to our CDRU (Caribbean Disaster Relief Unit) counterparts, it was time for lunch which was kindly provided to us by the business owner.

It was during lunch that I first noticed what I thought was sunburn in the back of my left arm. Now, this was no sunburn, but as you’ve probably guessed a textbook chemical burn received from the sap of the Manchineel we’d been working on. I’d foolishly not noticed the sap on the back of my cutting trousers and rubbed my arm against the sap after I’d removed my spray suit – a rookie mistake!

For the next few days I had to contend with my arm blistering up and turning exotic shades of yellow. Whilst the team was fully equipped to deal with this – thanks to our emergency first-aid bag and personal first-aid kits – it made cutting uncomfortable and served as a constant reminder of what can happen when you lose focus in situations like those I faced on Carriacou.

It’s hard to describe how destruction of this magnitude made me feel.It’s hard to describe how destruction of this magnitude made me feel. (Image: Supplied)

The team and I left Carriacou on 19 July and, while I felt a mix of emotions about my time spent on the island, the Manchineel tree catching me out will be the memory that sticks out.

Whenever I’m working now I remember how easy it is to make a mistake once the hard part of a task is done and your mind starts to relax. Not the life lesson I thought I’d leave the Caribbean with, but definitely a good one.

For more information about DART visit www.dartinternationaluk.org or email marketing@dartinternationaluk.org.