Wild Tobago

  In big ecotourism destinations – Kenya, Guyana – visitors travel miles over a few days to catch a glimpse of their iconic species. Trinidad and Tobago, says Faraaz Abdool, offers different micro-climates and eco-systems short distances from each other. Plus, one of the highest densities of bird species in the world. Photos courtesy Faraaz Abdool   For a country that has been heavily dependent on the oil and gas industry, we can be forgiven for overlooking the ecotourism potential of these two tiny islands at the southern end of the Caribbean. From the perspective of the nature-based visitor though, here’s what brings Trinidad and Tobago to the top of the list.   When considering ecotourism – whether in the same country or another – mostly for the purpose of enjoying wildlife in their natural habitat, one tends to consider the most charismatic megafauna. Lions for their regal allure, elephants for their sheer size and complex social lives, and ...

Anjani Ganase, marine scientist, calls upon business to claim its share of ocean wealth by conserving and managing our islands’ resource. First published in the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce' Contact magazine, vol 17 no 2, Focus on Tobago We think of the ocean and its resources as vast and endless. Goods and services provided by the ocean for humans have been estimated to be about 24 trillion USD in assets (World Wildlife Fund, 2015) more than the economy of most nations. These goods include fishing, harvesting of materials and procurement of medicine, as well as services through shoreline protection, wave energy extraction, shipping and tourism. This asset value is grossly underestimated, as it doesn’t consider the crucial roles of the ocean in regulating climate, the air we breathe and stabilising temperature, nor does it consider the intrinsic cultural value that we place on the ocean (WWF 2015). But the resources of the ocean have been depleted more in our lifetime ...