In Saline, the tamarind tree is no more than a "dead plant".

Inside the Le Tamarin restaurant, workers are busy completing the final touches before the restaurant reopens. Particular attention is being paid to the garden, the restaurant's trademark. But for months now, its most remarkable resident has been giving up the ghost. Grey and dry, the large tamarind tree at the entrance to the establishment is gradually crumbling. Inexorably. "A dead plant individual". Such is the result of the diagnosis carried out on September 26 by the Agence territoriale de l'environnement (ATE). "It hurts but, unfortunately, it's dead," confirms Agence territoriale de l'environnement director Sébastien Gréaux. Beyond the sadness of this realization, there is now a safety imperative.

The tamarind tree in its pre-Irma glory.

"A risk for users
In its opinion, drawn up at the end of September, the ATE pointed out that the dead tree "could in time, through its bruised branches, represent a risk for users of the plot". In this case, the employees and customers of Le Tamarin restaurant.
The owners therefore took steps to uproot the dead tamarind tree and replant another endemic tree. The first step was to obtain confirmation of the death from the ATE. From now on, they will need the approval of the Collectivité, and more specifically the Executive Council, to take any steps whatsoever to remove the dried-out remains of the tamarind tree. But it doesn't seem to be a simple matter.
Indeed, despite the ATE's diagnosis, the seven elected members of the Executive Council have yet to take a decision on the matter. And yet, on the Tamarin side, the urgency is palpable just a few days before the reopening. "Yesterday, a big branch fell over on its own," says an employee, casting a distressed glance at what's left of the imposing tamarind tree. "It's dry, rotten from the inside out", she laments.
In reality, the tree would have begun to wither after Hurricane Irma hit in September 2017. Yet it was classified by the Collectivité as a remarkable species in the years that followed. This further complicates matters for the restaurant's owners, since they need an exemption from the town planning code to uproot the tamarind tree. We don't want to remove it for pleasure," says the owner. Nor to install a new table, but to replant another tree. "
In fact, after failing to replant another tamarind tree, the restaurant's management consulted a specialist to determine what other endemic species could be introduced to Tamarin. It turned out to be a cheese tree. Ordered from Argentina, the tree has already arrived in Saint-Barthélemy. Pending territorial authorizations, the tree has been put on a drip so that it doesn't die before being planted. A meticulous and well-prepared operation, for a reason explained by ATE director Sébastien Gréaux: "Under a tree like the tamarind, with its highly acidic foliage, the soil may have been impregnated. This makes it very difficult to grow another tree. "Nevertheless, the Tamarin management is determined to replace its now-defunct symbol. All that remains is to obtain the approval of the executive board.