SUNDAY 5 AUGUST, 2018 – UWI TODAY
11
CAMPUS NEWS
What marine areas are protected?
Which should be?
Currently only Buccoo Reef is protected under the
Marine Preservation and Enhancement Act. There are
many areas that need protection around the country.
Deciding which ones get protection is a complicated
issue as you not only need to look at protecting unique
areas, but places that are important for traditional
uses, as well as for important ecosystem processes
such as migration, etc. The FAO and the Government
of Trinidad and Tobago have been preparing a new
national parks plan for the country. I helped develop
the draft which was completed a month or so ago.
This plan proposes new areas for protection, including
deep sea areas, a large coastal and marine area around
north-east Tobago, several islands, and coastal areas
around Trinidad (such as the reefs at Salybia Bay in
Toco). If approved, these will altogether cover about
21% of our Exclusive Economic Zone.
What are good examples (from other
countries/ islands) that we should look at?
Across the Caribbean, there are several efforts to
increase the size of terrestrial and marine areas under
formal protection. The countries in the region are
signatories to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD),
an international treaty that protects biodiversity
globally. All member countries have committed to
protect, at a minimum17%of their terrestrial and 10%
of their marine areas by 2020.
Good examples across the Caribbean abound.
Look at the Codrington Marine Reserve in Antigua
and Barbuda. Dominica has set national targets that
exceed the CBD 2020 targets: they are aiming at 20%
of terrestrial and 15% of coastal and marine areas.
Several countries in the region (Bahamas, Grenada, St
Kitts/Nevis, and the Dominican Republic, etc.) have
also signed up to the Caribbean Challenge Initiative
(CCI) that seeks to protect 20% of terrestrial and near
shore marine and coastal resources by 2020, exceeding
the CBD targets. The Belizeans have also been doing
amazing work with protected areas of their barrier
reefs.
Dr. Howard Nelson is a senior lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Chester in the UK. He acquired the BSc Zoology
and Chemistry; and MPhil Zoology at The UWI St Augustine; and the PhDWildlife Ecology and Forestry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
USA. The focus of his current programme and consultancies is biological conservation and sustainability.
Are there good examples inT&T that should
be looked at? Where are they and why have
they remained protected?
In T&T we’ve been slow in developing formally
protected areas, as we have relied on the Forest act,
Conservation ofWildlife Act andMarine Preservation
and Enhancement Act primarily, to designate protected
areas. These laws were never designed to accomplish
the kind of protected areas management we need in
the 21st century. We do have some protected areas that
are still in good shape: Trinity HillsWildlife Sanctuary,
Little Tobago Island, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, St
David’s Forest Reserve, Paria and Blanchisseuse Forest
Reserves. Many of these areas have stayed in good
shape either because they are relatively inaccessible,
or in the case of the Tobago areas, are valued for their
contributions to local livelihoods. There are areas
where local community efforts have led to tremendous
conservation success, such as at the coastal beaches
in the north-east of Trinidad, and the work of Nature
Seekers at Matura.
How would you try to influence people in
T&T? Policy makers?
Trinidad and Tobago is a very special place for
conservation in the Caribbean. We have the most
diverse terrestrial ecosystems; the first forest reserve
in the Western Hemisphere; our islands sit on a part
of the South American continental shelf that is really
interesting from a marine standpoint; and our people
have provided some of the best examples of NGO-
based conservation action. In spite of this, we appear
to lag behind many of our Caribbean neighbors in
terms of protected areas management.
Raising our game will require more public and
political buy-in. The way to increase this buy-in is to
improve the link between people’s daily lives and the
biodiversity in protected areas. Today, climate change
is the biggest threat to biodiversity. It also presents
some of the greatest national development challenges
in terms of increased infectious disease risk, drought,
loss of agricultural productivity and increased risk
from storms and forest fires. All these risks can be
accentuated or reduced through management of
protected areas and biodiversity. Better management
of these areas means more livelihood opportunities
(jobs); and investments in reduction of the risks
of flooding, drought and forest fires. These are not
merely “nice to have” but “must have” as we develop
our country.
You spent five years at theAsaWright Nature
Centre (AWNC), what do you think a place/
institution such as Asa Wright should be
doing to be a model protected natural area
and to conserve biodiversity?
Places like the Asa Wright Nature Centre offer
some of the best national/regional models of how
local ideas about conservation can make a lasting
and substantial impact on biodiversity conservation.
The longevity of the AWNC and its work on multiple
different fronts makes it a tremendous model. To
ramp this up, the AWNC could promote the lessons
it has learned in the past 50 years, to other national
and regional NGO/CBO and national governments
looking to replicate its success.
Islands need to protect marine
biodiversity as well as their onshore
natural environments. So believes
Dr Howard Nelson
one of the three
plenary speakers at the inaugural
Latin America and Caribbean
Congress for Conservation Biology
(LACCCB 2018)
that was held in
Trinidad and Tobago from July 25-27.
The discussions around the conference
theme
“Rainforest to Reef ”
allowed
participants to explore conservation
needs and practices in Caribbean,
island and marine ecosystems. In this
Q&A with
Pat Ganase
, Dr. Nelson
considers some of the challenges in
Trinidad and Tobago.
ON LAND AND AT SEA
Rainforest to reef conference explored the challenges and needs
