Wild Tobago

  Joanne Husain points out the value of parks in cities and communities. Natural spaces should be planned in urban developments, and maintained for trees and birds as well as for human health and well-being. (Photos by Joanne Husain)   Urban parks are oases of green amid concrete landscapes. Tucked into bustling cities and densely populated neighbourhoods, these are designated spaces for recreation. An urban park is a mediated form of nature with purposeful landscaping bridging the urban and the untamed. The aesthetics of the space is important, providing visual relief from the mass of manmade structures. Typically, these parks feature walking paths through landscaped gardens with an assortment of flowering shrubs and shady trees, with playing fields and scenic open areas. Think of our Botanical Gardens and the Savannah, and hope that they continue to be maintained for the trees: a place to find respite from the high octane life in the city.   Nature is the source...

Scientists are finding out more about the creatures in the ocean even as they continue to be threatened by human-induced global warming, Dr Anjani Ganase looks at recent research on coral reefs, dolphins, whale sharks and jellyfish. How will they survive human traffic and warmer oceans?   Sharks thrive in the Marine Protected Area off Cuba, Jardines de la Reina. Credit: Philip Hamilton / Ocean Image Bank Protected coral reefs mean more fish Marine Protected Areas (MPA), according to scientific studies, account for about 10% of global fish stocks. Existing MPAs make up just 8.4% of the ocean and merely 3% are fully protected and equivalent to 1244 reefs around the world. A study led by the University of Sydney in Australia has estimated the amount of fish biomass in the world’s ocean that results from the presence of no-take, marine protected areas. The study reveals the importance of MPAs to boosting fish productivity especially when associated with cora...

Dr Shivonne Peters- McPherson proposes Marine Spatial Planning techniques and programmes for all coastal and oceanic areas around Trinidad and Tobago   Our twin-island nation Trinidad and Tobago is considered a small island developing state (SIDS) whose future will surely rest heavily on development of its blue economy. Trinidad’s aspiration is supported by a long history in the oil and gas industry, while Tobago’s economy has been tourism-based. Scientific advancements in the blue economy sectors, such as blue biotechnology and ocean energy are making changes across the globe, but to date have to be fully understood and explored in Trinidad and Tobago whose ocean territory is about 15 times its land. The potential for development and the benefits can be tremendous, even as we struggle to manage land-based pollution, unsustainable harvesting, habitat destruction and climate change. The development of the blue economy should facilitate the transition to re...

Dr Anjani Ganase, coral reef ecologist, reviews current research and activities for coral reef conservation Extremely warm waters have hit the Caribbean, the second year in a row. In 2023, mass bleaching was observed throughout the Caribbean then the rest of the world. At the beginning of this year the fourth global coral bleaching event was declared, the second within the last decade. We seem to be well on our way to 99 % loss in coral populations by 2050 with the current trajectory of global emissions. Since I returned to Trinidad and Tobago to study reefs here, I have been reporting on coral bleaching every year. The severe coral bleaching last year decimated reefs throughout the Caribbean including the Meso-American Barrier Reef (Mexico and Belize), Jamaica, and Bahamas. In Tobago, many brain corals bleached and died last year, and in 2024, many colonies started to pale and bleach as early as July. The reefs have little time to recover between the hot summer ...