Wild Tobago

The gaps between developed and developing nations, as well as between the wealthy and poor of every nation are widening as the earth’s mean temperature rises. Anjani Ganase considers recent studies that call for accountability, and wonders how Trinidad and Tobago might ensure equity among its communities.   Although the climate crisis is felt at a global scale, it is the result of the emissions of carbon dioxide mainly from a handful of industrialized nations. By 2017, the USA has contributed 400 billion tonnes of accumulated carbon dioxide (since 1751) or about 25 % of the global cumulative emissions, followed by the European Union (22 % or 353 billion tonnes of CO 2 ), China (12.7 % or 200 billion tonnes), Russia (6 % or 101 billion tonnes) and India (3 % or 48 billion tonnes).   Unfortunately, the impacts of climate change discriminate based on location and income. Poorer countries lack the resources for climate protection and mitigation, while tr...

  Faraaz Abdool designs itineraries to show off food, culture and natural vistas in his tours for birders. Homebound for a couple years, many people have fallen in love with their backyard birds and by extension the magic of birding. Now, with travel restrictions easing in most countries, people are eager to visit new places, see new sights, and experience new birds. Pre-pandemic birding tourism was already a significant sector of the burgeoning ecotourism market, and it is gradually regaining momentum as more and more people take flight. Birding tours take eager persons from all walks of life to incredible and remote places as varied as the birds themselves. As the destinations vary, the tours branch out to cater for the various cadres of birders – some who keep lists with magnitudes of thousands, some who are seeking that elusive winning photograph, others merely interested in the experience of being in nature. Most people who travel for birds fall in any combination of t...

What are the possible applications of the seasonal influx of Sargassum on our island shores? Dr Anjani Ganase considers the research and looks at some of the ways that Sargassum is already used. While sargassum, brown fleshy macroalgae, is known and readily used in many Asian countries, in the Caribbean, it is mostly regarded as a nuisance. While some species of sargassum grow attached to the sea bottom, the oceanic species that we’re exposed to seasonally grows on the surface of the open ocean forming great seaweed rafts. These rafts create shelter and a source of food for marine creatures out at sea, but when they enter shallow coastal areas, they smother and entangle marine life, and decay on our beaches and wetland habitats. Since 2011, these golden tides – rafts of sargassum –- are regularly washing ashore on Caribbean and American coasts in large quantities. The two common oceanic sargassum species identified are Sargassum natans and Sargassum fluitans...

Dr Anjani Ganase discusses recent research and findings about sharks .   MEGALODON THE SUPER PREDATOR The megalodon (Big Tooth) sharks were massive predators that roamed the oceans for over 13 million years until they went extinct three million years ago. During that time, megalodons could grow to 15 m in length. The closest rivals were the great white sharks that overlapped with the megalodons for about 400,000 years but were dwarfs - 5m - in comparison. From the size of the skeleton and teeth - one tooth is the size of a hand - the megalodon was a major predator on the high seas feeding on large fish, whales, and even other sharks. Scientists found a fossilized whale bone with markings and pieces of megalodon teeth in it. Recently scientists were able to chemically confirm that megalodons were on the very top of the ocean food chain, capable of feeding on whatever, whenever it wanted.   Through nitrogen found in the teeth of a megalodon species - Otodus megalodon ...

Conserving living soil is not new; sustainable agriculture depended on knowledge of soil for centuries. Simple guidelines for retaining and replenishing the life of soil are provided by John Stollmeyer and Erle Rahaman-Noronha who founded Caribbean Permaculture Consultants. Pat Ganase reports.     Healthy soil is the essential foundation on which to grow healthy foods. The practice of permaculture helps us to build soil on degraded lands so that farming takes place in a continuous loop in which soil is replenished naturally. It is possible to produce food without destroying other ecosystems. Permaculture processes aim to rehabilitate soil, trap water and grow food on small-scale intensive systems which are labour efficient and which use biological resources instead of fossil fuels. Permaculture is based on design: perfect for home gardens in which you consider topography, how water flows and what is already growing there. Remember, in a forest, there is no waste, everyth...