14
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 9 SEPTEMBER, 2018
ENVIRONMENT
Two years ago, an oilbird
had to be rescued from a
ledge on one of the upper storeys of the Twin Towers
in Port of Spain. Yellow-headed green parrots used
to perch and peck at the glass windows of another
high-rise office building on the Savannah. In any
of the residential valleys off the Northern Range,
iguanas, agoutis and manicous regularly walk
through backyards. And birds – native and visiting
– nest in many urban gardens. The wild, it seems, is
never far fromwhere we live in Trinidad or Tobago.
As cited in the new Protected Area Systems Plan
(TTPASP), “Trinidad and Tobago is among themost
biologically diverse countries in the Caribbean with
over 3639 species of plants (including 2407 native
species)
(Baksh-Comeau et al. 2016)
, 600 species of
terrestrial vertebrates and 1100 species of recorded
invertebrates
(Starr 2010)
.”
It is this diversity that the Plan seeks to
safeguard. The 2018 TTPASP is to be presented
this month. It represents five years of fieldwork,
consultations with communities, and distilling
the native knowledge and surveys – historical and
contemporary – of specialist scientific and interest
groups.The thoroughness and specificity withwhich
ecosystems on land and in the marine areas have
been considered is laudable.
The result is a document that should be
required reading for students of ecology from
secondary school and beyond. Published, it may
be a reference collection for every Trinbagonian
wanting information on the precious resources of
our native isles. Furthermore, it takes into account
the up-to-date thinking and practice of the global
Convention on Biological Diversity.
Most importantly, the 2018 TTPASP is not
set in stone. Building on the 1980 plan (Thelen
and Faizool), it provides a realistic and sensitive
roadmap for the way forward. It is intended to be
a living document: as initiatives are implemented,
levels of protectionmay be changed, and areas under
conservation may be modified or expanded.
Of greatest significance perhaps, are the
recommendations for managing the Open-Ocean
Waters and Deep-Sea (OOWDS) areas, especially
in the country’s exclusive economic zone which
extends into the deep Atlantic; much of which has
not been explored. Recent forays have revealed life
in hot water vents and methane seeps: “Many of
these ecosystems, for example, the deep marine
ecosystems within Trinidad and Tobago’s exclusive
economic zone (EEZ), remain areas of active
biological exploration, while simultaneously being
important areas of economic development (Amon,
et al. 2017).”
For consideration too is the Northeast Tobago
Marine Protected Area, some 53,000 hectares
of coastal and marine ecosystem comprising “a
Look out for theNewNational Plan for
PROTECTINGOURNATURALAREAS
complex seascape of offshore islands, coral reefs,
sponge reefs and sandy beaches important for
recreational, fishing and ecotourism use.”
The Planwas commissioned by the Government
of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in 2013 and
was developed and completed through partners,
the European Union, Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the
Global Environmental Fund (GEF). It aims to bring
Trinidad and Tobago in compliance with the Aichi
targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD). At the 10th meeting (2010) on Biological
Diversity in Aichi, Nagoya Japan, the countries/
parties agreed on strategic biodiversity targets to
be achieved by 2020; these include, among others,
the strategy “to improve the status of biodiversity
by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic
diversity.”
The TTPASP includes recommendations for
implementation, management and opportunities
in education, employment and entrepreneurship.
Like the battle against climate change, protecting
natural areas is an investment in future wealth
and well-being. It requires individual buy-in to a
collective benefit.
“The new system plan identifies
136 PNAs
(protected natural areas) across Trinidad and
Tobago. Of these, 92 are terrestrial/freshwater (79
in Trinidad, 13 in Tobago), 40 are coastal/marine
(18 in Trinidad, 22 in Tobago) and four are deep-
sea marine areas. In total, approximately 1933
km2 (1866 km2 in Trinidad, 67 km2 in Tobago) of
the country’s landmass are covered by terrestrial/
freshwater PNAs. The coastal andmarine areas are
approximately 580 km2 (14 km2 in Trinidad and
566 km2 in Tobago) in size. Open-ocean waters
and deep-sea marine areas cover 15,600km2 of
Trinidad and Tobago’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
Thus, 38%of the country’s landmass is protected
by terrestrial/freshwater PNAs and coastal, marine
and OOWDS PNAs protect 22% of Trinidad and
Tobago’s EEZ.”
(Extract from National Protected Area Systems Plan
for Trinidad and Tobago, 2018)
NATURAL AREAS
TO BE CONSIDERED
FOR PROTECTION
