Wild Tobago

Joanne Husain takes us with her to the Solomon Islands on the other side of the world. (All photos courtesy Joanne Husain)   The Solomon Islands, simply referred to as the Solomons, is an independent multi-island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Situated east of Papua New Guinea and north of Australia, curving along the infamous Ring of Fire, the Solomons form a remote archipelago ranging from mountainous islands to low-lying coral atolls. There are 992 islands in total; only about 90 are inhabited.   Just over 700,000 people call the Solomons home. The main island is Guadalcanal with Honiara as the country’s capital. The Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian roots of the population are reflected in everything from traditional dress and cuisine to the intricate art of wood carving. Over 60 different local languages and dialects are spoken with English as the country’s official language. Solomon Islands pijin , however, is the lingua franca, not only spoken b...

Dr Anjani Ganase looks at how human development is changing the ocean, and altering Earth’s natural habitats, biodiversity and defences. When we look out on the ocean, we see vast endless blue along the ocean surface. Below this surface is a wealth of resources that humans have tapped for centuries. The ocean is a major source of resources, with benefits to humans, many to the detriment of its residents and the environment. Global governance of our ocean is challenging growing more alarming as nations continue to industrialise the ocean. Industrialisation consists of four aspects, according to Smith (2000) (1) mass manufacturing of new technologies, (2) large-scale capital investment, (3) social acclimatisation, and (4) economic incentives.   Here are some ocean industries with benefits to humans but with significant impact to the ocean ecosystem.   Williams Bay, Chaguaramas. Photo by Anjani Ganase Transport and communications Shipping is a testame...

At the very centre of the Central Range, the heartland of Trinidad, a forest is re-growing. Part of this forest is the Ajoupa Pottery Garden brought back from barren scrub by Bunty and Rory O’Connor for 35 years. Bunty O’Connor tells Pat Ganase what it took to recreate a garden in Chickland. (Photos courtesy Bunty O’Connor)     Rory and Bunty O’Connor and their three children moved from Cascade and Santa Cruz to Chickland in Trinidad’s Central Range in 1989.   They had bought piece of Les Lilas estate last owned by Charles Melizan with the intention to survive the recession by creating a pottery business. For two decades, Ajoupa Pottery produced bowls, mugs, mini ajoupa houses and other wares that were sold throughout the Lesser Antilles. The potter now devotes her time to artworks: mosaics, murals and clay creatures celebrating life in a forest. The most serendipitous legacy of Ajoupa may be the re-generation of a garden on five acres of a Centra...

Faraaz Abdool finds a Caribbean community in the Global BirdFair,   and wonders how this energised and dedicated group could influence the region.   At the recent Global BirdFair in Rutland UK, tour companies, tourist boards, artists, manufacturers of binoculars and cameras, audio recording aficionados, and many others gathered to network and exhibit their products for a weekend to a variety of potential customers. Saint Lucia and Tobago along with Hadco Experiences from Trinidad were present and impactful at the 2024 Fair. Contributing to the vibrant Caribbean presence was the Barbados-based company called Birding the Islands. Dubbed “The Caribbean Specialists”, Birding runs multi-island tours throughout the region to ensure that costly long-haul flights bring birders on a multi-island tropical odyssey to outstanding destinations, prioritizing those with an ethos based on equity and conservation.   Birding the Islands is a Caribbean collective, ...

Carlina Jules-Taylor talks with Pat Ganase about her journey to Tonci Chocolate, recently presented at the 2024 Trade and Investment Conference. (All photos courtesy Carlina Jules-Taylor)   In Dominica, my mother Marie Jules taught me to make drinking chocolate. Her father was an overseer on an estate with cocoa, coffee, coconut. She grew up with cocoa. Her mother, my grandmother, used to process everything on the estate. They squeezed sugar cane daily and boiled the juice to make visou (thick almost crystallised syrup) which was used to sweeten cocoa and coffee. My grandfather kept cows, so there was fresh milk to add to cocoa. This estate was in La Plaine.   The Taylor family: Tadijah, Theo, Carlina and Randy Marie Jules comes from Dominica to Tobago to help out I grew up in Roseau. My father was a fisherman, Elwin Jules. So my mother left the country and lived in a part of Roseau near the sea called Newtown. Everyone loves coffee but poor people could not buy a lot ...