Wild Tobago

Could enthusiasts of sports such as surfing influence the conservation of their favourite beaches? Anjani Ganase makes the case for surfers in Trinidad and Tobago to champion beaches like Toco or Mt Irvine. Coastlines that generate outstanding wave formation and epic surf conditions often coincide with areas rich in biodiversity and marine life. It sometimes happens that marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs that support rich marine life below, also support roaring surfing communities above the water. Photo 1 Surfing at Grange Bay, Tobago. Photo by Nicholas Marsan All coastal areas are heavily influenced by human activities, especially since over 70 % of the world’s populations are found within 50 km of coasts. As a result, there’s hardly a coast or marine ecosystem that’s untouched by human activity. Indeed many have undergone significant degradation. Popular surfing destinations have not been spared from a wide range of human activities such as coastal development, seabed dredging a...

With restrictions imposed by Covid-19 around the world, Dr Stanton Belford recounts his best past observances of World Environment Day. Nature is here for us, he says, but we need to understand and appreciate our wild spaces every day. Dr Belford is a Trinidadian marine scientist who is a professor of Biology at Martin Methodist College in Tennessee USA. One of his significant research studies is on the reefs of Toco, Trinidad. This year 2020, World Environment Day will be celebrated on Friday June 5. I am saddened that I cannot visit Trinidad and Tobago, as I do annually during World Environment Day, as COVID-19 has placed a halt on this visit, which in the past was so easy to accomplish. Check to make sure my passport isn’t expired, review low tide schedules, book my airfare ticket, and then I’m off! My activities during these past visits included the Asa Wright Nature Center, the annual Island Hikers Hikeathon from Matelot to Blanchisseuse, and off course s...

Dr Anjani Ganase talks with Dr Stanton Belford about the coral reefs at Toco, different from Tobago but in need of protection. This is also Trinidad’s only reef system. Dr Stanton Belford grew up on Temple Street, Arima, while spending most of his childhood traveling between Arima and Blanchisseuse where his father’s family lived. This was Stanton’s first introduction to life underwater in the ocean and in the rivers and streams of the Northern Range. When he was not riding the waves on the north coast, he was catching fish and crab in nearby streams. Nature encouraged his passion for research in biology, particularly the marine environments of northeast Trinidad, which he was fortunate to experience when he was in high school. “In 1993-94, Dr. Carol Draper took the biology sixth form class from Arima Senior Comprehensive School to do a survey of the patchy coral reefs at Toco. This essentially was the major spark for my interest in marine science. It wa...

The initiative to share the world of coral reefs with citizens and students of Trinidad and Tobago may have ended, but the quest for healthy oceans and the health of people continues. Dr Anjani Ganase reviews the International Year of the Reef TT and encourages us to continue “chasing coral.”  Awareness and Action 2018 was the International Year of the Reef (IYOR), a effort initiated by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) to raise global awareness of the value of coral reef ecosystems. Trinidad and Tobago joined several countries around the world, as well as forty non-governmental and intergovernmental agencies, to learn about coral reefs and the threats they face, especially imminent climate change, and to engender action for coral reef conservation.  Throughout the year the IYORTT partnership grew significantly. It started with a core group of scientists who began discussions with other environmental groups and educational institutions. As the conversat...