Climate Summit Unites Next Generation of Eco Stewards

Felix Neck Preserve, a sanctuary that spans hundreds of acres and is home to a rich variety of plants and wildlife, was filled with Island students for the sixth annual Martha’s Vineyard Climate Summit.

I arrived at the sanctuary early Thursday morning, as sleepy but excited students filed off buses and gathered around Felix Neck staff members to get familiar with the day’s agenda. Rain was in the forecast for later in the afternoon, so there was no time to waste. 

Teachers and naturalists at the preserve have nurtured the next generation of eco stewards for decades by offering nature-based education to students of all ages. The climate summit gives Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School and Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School students the opportunity to guide their own learning, and let their interests dictate the day of outdoor education. Students led various roundtable discussions on topics like Wampanoag land stewardship, fast fashion and thrifting, and creative ways to reduce plastics. They also worked with their teams to design conceptual garden plots using string as a grid and cards representing the different crops. Students made flower prints, and foraged for native edible plants in other hands-on workshops. 

MVRHS science teacher Heather Lochridge spoke to groups about Island Eats, a local organization that’s offering a reusable alternative to single-use plastic takeout containers. “We all know how bad single-use plastics are. Island Eats offers stainless steel bowls with silicone lids — a bunch of different restaurants and coffee shops have partnered with them,” Lochridge said. “Some places also have metal soup containers and metal cups.” Students at the climate summit ate lunch in Island Eats stainless steel bowls, giving them a firsthand look at the rapidly-growing program.

At an adjacent table, members of the local renewable energy cooperative Vineyard Power gave students a rundown on the organization’s goals, and how they’re supporting individuals, families, and businesses transition to clean energy. Luke Lefeber, Vineyard Power controller and renewable development manager, said his team is working with the community to build solar installations and integrate them with local battery storage. “Eversource can only do so much, so you need to ensure that the island also has the capacity to create resilience for itself,” he said. “How can the community provide its own energy and store that energy if Eversource has an issue?”

Before the Smith family began farming at Felix Neck around 300 years ago, Wampanoag Tribe member and farmer Felix Kuttashamaquat lived and farmed there. Respect for the ancient indigenous stewards and original tenders of the land — the Wampanoag people — was a central theme of the daylong climate dialogue. Del Araujo and Alexis Moreis, two Wampanoag Tribe members, sat in one shaded area of the Felix Neck campus known as Kuttashamaquat Corner to discuss indigenous land use on Martha’s Vineyard. 

Conch, or welk, they said, has a rich gastronomic and cultural history on Noepe the Wampanoag name for Martha’s Vineyard), and is very profitable internationally. Moreis said Indigenous sustenance rights are essential to the fabric of the Wampanoag community. Many tribes were forced onto small plots of land to farm, forage, hunt, and fish. Moreis said they are still fighting to reclaim the land they stewarded for millenia. “It’s important to have Indigenous communities steward the land and remain in control of these resources, and have them preserve the biodiversity in some of these natural spaces, like Felix Neck,” Moreis said. “Felix was a Wampanoag person, and a farmer, and he knew how to care for this land.”

The well-groomed trails and unique biodiversity of the Felix Neck woodlands, meadows, ponds, salt marsh, and shorelines make it the perfect outdoor classroom. Forager, cook, and internet personality Alexis Nikole, known online as Black Forager, has been exploring the preserve since she was a child. Nikole, who has more than 4 million followers on TikTok, was the guest of honor at the climate summit, and led a foraging walk where she pointed out common edible plants, and gave tips on how to make healthy and delicious foraged meals. “This is a milkweed plant. These guys only need a quick blanche for them to be rendered edible. At this stage it’s very asparagus-like. If it snaps like this when you break it, that means it’s good eating,” Nikole said. 

While Nikole led groups around the campus, she described the connection between foraging and responsible land management. She said that when Europeans first arrived in America, they were surprised to find natural spaces so abundant in wild game and edible plants. “These spaces didn’t look like farms, but they were extremely productive. To them, it must have felt like a magical land filled with bounty,” Nikole said. “The reason for all that bounty and all that diversity was the stewardship practices that occurred in the United States prior to European arrival.”

Some students attended round table discussions where they heard practical tips on how to live more sustainably. 

Executive director of Vineyard Conservation Society Samantha Look told participants that they as consumers have the power to steer the direction of commerce and production away from excessive consumption. “Ever heard of people referring to voting with your pocket book?” Look asked. “We are constantly being told we need the next best thing, whether it’s the latest season of fashion, or the newest phone. But because we can exert pressure on these companies by simply not buying more stuff, we are actually in control — our possessions don’t have to be our jailer.”

Team exercises at the climate summit prepared students to stand up and make their voices heard at town meetings, as so many consequential environmental decisions are made on the town meeting floor. Each team had to defend their stance on how an imaginary plot of town land would be used. Some students advocated for turning it into a public park, while others suggested preserving the land in its original state, and using some of it to create affordable housing.

“Studies have shown that time spent outside in parks can help people fight against mental health issues,” MVRHS student Senique Wilson said as she held a stick that served as her “microphone.” Additionally, Senique pointed out that people visiting national parks contribute billions of dollars to regional economies, while creating hundreds of thousands of private sector jobs. “I believe we should continue to support the public environment,” she said. MVRHS students Finn Robinson and Brodie Vincent represented the interests of solar developers, and said using the parcel of land to construct a ground-based solar array would increase the community’s access to renewable energy, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Bangii-Kai Bellecourt, a student and member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), suggested that the land be used to create affordable housing and the remainder of it be preserved. “There is an extreme housing issue on this island, and development is causing an issue with native plants and animals. Land preservation is very important to me and has been important to my people, who have lived here for over 15,000 years, and continue to live there.”