Charcoal production is driving forest loss in Turks & Caicos.

Photos By Agile LeVin, Visit Turks & Caicos Islands

The Summer 2025 issue of Times of the Islands included the feature article “Clearing Away Paradise” by Ben Stubenberg. It described how rampant construction in the Turks & Caicos Islands, especially on Providenciales, is leading to the widespread loss of flora and fauna that has been the essence of TCI’s natural and national heritage, as well as a major attraction to visitors.

Adding to the destruction are swaths of native old-growth forest on Providenciales that are being destroyed to produce charcoal, the extent of which can be seen in photos taken on July 24, 2025. The images show scorched clearings where teams are cutting and burning trees, in some cases less than 650 feet (200 m) from vulnerable civilian homes in the settlements of Blue Hills and outer Wheeland.

This aerial view of western Providenciales is one of many new images showing the scale of the island’s deforestation.

Since 2016, roughly 600 acres of Providenciales’ tropical dry forests have been deforested on its remote central western side for charcoal burning, according to Google Earth satellite imagery. The scale of deforestation in this area—which, together with the Frenchman’s Creek Nature Reserve, is the largest area of native old-growth forest left on Providenciales—appears to have increased drastically in the last five years.

The charcoal seems to be used as cooking fuel, though some residents believe it is being exported to Haiti. To date, the TCI Government and its various relevant departments do not appear to have taken any meaningful action to prevent the clear-cutting and burning. Clearing land without approval from the Turks & Caicos Islands Government Planning Department is illegal.

The risk of fire from the burn sites spreading uncontrollably to nearby communities grows as more and more land is cleared to cut and burn trees. Several of the surrounding communities have been plagued by destructive fires within the last year. The photos here were taken the same day that a large fire destroyed numerous homes in the community of Blue Hills.

Charcoal burning causes significant and long-lasting environmental damage, especially in small-island states with limited land. As slow-growing hardwood trees produce the best quality coal, many of the trees being chopped and burned are likely over 100 years old. These include rare hardwood trees, such as the sacred lignum vitae (Guaiacum sanctum), West Indian mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), Jesuit bark (Exostema caribaeum), and nakedwood (Thouinia discolor). Likely caught in the crossfire are many of the country’s rare plants, some of which are only found in the Turks & Caicos.

The cut vegetation is stacked and covered with dirt and rocks and made into a kiln, then burned to produce charcoal.

Providenciales is the most developed and most populated island in the Turks & Caicos archipelago, and it is the center of the country’s tourism industry. Rapid construction and development have led to a host of issues for the island, from frequent flooding to water shortages for residents.

Flooding is anticipated to worsen as the island loses more and more of its natural vegetation, which naturally absorbs excess rainwater, to deforestation and clear-cutting for construction. Other effects include soil erosion and habitat loss for its native flora.

Visit Turks & Caicos Islands is based in Grace Bay on Providenciales, and works hard to provide authoritative and in-depth tourism information for all of our islands and cays. Our website (visittci.com) is a proprietary custom-based content management system that was tailor-made for the Turks & Caicos, helping to ensure that our islands are presented in an easy-to-access format for visitors seeking travel and tourism information. Our content is created in the Turks and Caicos, with original photos and articles. We strive to preserve historical information and traditional location and cay names.