E n viron men t TO BA GO n ewsl etter
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nvironment TOBAGO (ET) is a nongovernment, non-profit, volunteer organisation , not subsidized by any one group, corporation or government body. Founded in 1995, ET is a proactive advocacy group that campaigns against negative environmental activities throughout Tobago. We achieve this through a variety of community and environmental outreach programmes. Environment TOBAGO is funded mainly through grants and membership fees. These funds go back into implementing our projects. We are grateful to all our sponsors over the years and thank them for their continued support
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hat’s inside
ET News
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Articles
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Ecology Notes
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Tobago Wildlife
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What’s Happening @ ET
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Notes to contributors
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Environment TOBAGO
March 2017
A Voice from Charlotteville Pat Ganese As you read this in the Tobago Newsday (March 30), Environment Tobago’s long running president/currently Vice president Patricia Turpin is attending the GEF-7 Replenishment Meeting in Paris. This meeting is the start of several sessions in which the Global Environmental Facility (a fund established in 1991 to tackle the biggest environmental problems on the planet), will consider what funding is needed to address, halt and reverse environmental degradation. Charlotteville, Tobago may be a long way from Paris, France. For Patricia Turpin, Charlotteville is home, and Paris is one of many cities where Turpin attends to the business of securing the environmental health and wellbeing of home, the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, and the wider Caribbean. Charlotteville, she believes, may yet teach the nation a thing or two about conservation. Though she was born in San Fernando, Turpin has grown conservationist roots in Tobago where she manages the extensive Charlotteville Estates; carrying on the tourism business with the Man-o-War Bay cottages; and embarking on revitalization of cocoa plantations which have been abandoned since the 1990s. She has been told that trees here include some precious and old criollo strains. Over a hundred years before, in 1865, Joseph Turpin the Anglican Bishop of St Vincent Patricia Turpin at the GEF-50 acquired Charlotteville Estate and began the conconference version of sugar plantations to cocoa. The estate leased land to tenant farmers who tended the trees, harvested and dried the cocoa beans for export. Edmund Turpin (the son) subsequently became Bishop of Tobago. His sons merged the Charlotteville and Pirates Bay estates. One son was the Crown Surveyor of lands for Trinidad and Tobago, and the other a conservation-minded game warden in Uganda. Charlotteville was planned and laid out like a typical English village, with the recreational and communal village square in the middle. Taking into account the topography and watershed areas, roads and drainage followed the contours around a natural deepwater harbour. The 1930s Turpin environmental plan included areas demarcated for forestry and wildlife, a town plan, timber and agriculture which included a million cocoa trees on 400 acres. The life cycles of fish in the bay were studied, and the first list of
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March 2017 Editor: Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Assistant Editor: Raymond Aaron Design & Layout: Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Technical Support: Jerome Ramsoondar Enid Nobbee Contributors: Bertrand Bhikarry Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Patricia Turpin Photographs: Environment TOBAGO Feroze Armadeen Stephen Jay Matt Kelly Karl Phillips
Board of Directors 2016-2018 President:: Bertrand Bhikkary Vice-President: Patricia Turpin Secretary: Wendy Austin Treasurer: Andy Roberts Other Directors: Renee Gift Darren Henry Terrance Sandiford William Trim Andrea Tuitt Aljoscha Wothke
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
pelagic species in the area was created, still used by fisheries officers in Tobago today. The first cottages on the beach were built in the mid-1960s after the marshland had been drained and filled. Before that, the area was pasture for cows and horses. There was a visitor market for those first four cottages amid lush gardens facing the sea. Today, there are nine cottages, with a capacity for 40 persons altogether. The main clients are independent or university-based researchers and students; Canadian and US universities, and more frequently, groups from UWI. “There’s greatest demand from May to August,” Turpin confirms, “but we’ve been reasonably occupied since this year started.” Though Turpin feels that ‘tourism business’ was forced on her, she claims to be an advocate of ‘educational tourism’ for as long as the conservation organization Environment Tobago has been in existence. Environment Tobago (ET) was established in 1996 as a civil society organization (non-governmental, non-profit, volunteer advocacy group) with the intention to “educate, spread awareness and campaign against negative environmental practices in Tobago.” ET’s most ambitious advocacy proposal may be to designate a marine protected area around the north of Tobago that extends “from Roxborough around the north coast (encompassing Little Tobago and the St Giles Islands) to Bloody Bay (encompassing the Brothers and Sisters islands) across the Reserve road back to Roxborough. Extending out to sea for six nautical miles, these areas will offer protection and management to terrestrial and marine areas of Tobago.” However, ET is mindful of the many small and individual actions against conservation; as well as the need for policy, legislation and education to make its purpose understood and widespread. Environment Tobago has an eye on all of Tobago: plastic waste on Atlantic beaches; the health of the Bon Accord Lagoon and Buccoo Reef; pollution and water resources; land development and runoff. In association with the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, ET conducts a series of educational camps and outreach programmes every year. ET is currently mounting a campaign in support of Councillor Kwesi des Vignes to ban polystyrene and plastics in Tobago. ET came into being shortly after the Global Environmental Facility was created in 1994, and the GEF CSO network in 1995. They serve common purposes for the welfare of nations and the planet. According to Turpin: “Environment Tobago is a member of the GEF CSO network for about eight years. Two years ago, ET was elected from members of the network to represent the (Caribbean) region. As the Vice President of Environment Tobago, I as well as the current president, Bertrand Bhikarry, attend the GEF Council and the CSO network meetings held in Washington DC. “At the Council meetings, we act as observers, we comment on policy and the allocation of funds for environmental and biodiversity conservation against climate change, land and oceanic degradation, and chemical pollution. “Different countries –183 members in GEF - are at different levels of working towards conserving the planet. It is interesting to see the attitudes and levels of information. Sometimes, this can be very frustrating.” Such insights inform and support ET’s work in Tobago. In Charlotteville, she is grateful for the foresight of the Turpin ancestors; the cohesion of a community of old families, Nicholson, Murray, Carrington and so many others; and the tolerance and patience of citizens. She is happy to work with other educational conservation groups, and recently provided new operating space for ERIC the Environmental Research Institute of Charlotteville. She is hopeful that the work she is doing will keep Charlotteville intact; with positive impacts on the rest of Tobago and Trinidad; and that it will not be too late.
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
References: http://www.gefcso.org/formmaster.cfm? &menuid=12&action=view&orgid=692&preaction=main History of Charlotteville: https://stevesalfield.wordpress.com/a-brief-history-of-charlotteville-tobago/ http://tobago.today/tobago-village/charlotteville/ http://environmenttobago.net/
http://www.mytobago.info/villas/man-o-war-bay-cottages.htm http://sky1.environmenttobago.net/newsletters/ET_Newsletter_SeptDec_2015.pdf
Some of Tobago's Bird Life
Left: Bananaquit (Syzygium malaccense) Right (top to bottom): Collared Trogon (Trogon collaris) and Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway) (Photos by Stephen Jay, Feroze Armadeen and others)
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
Climate ACTT project/Bhp Billiton, Conservation International and Canari
Field work for the project including interviews was done by: Sabriyah Muhammad, Ryan Allard, Kerton Jobe, Steve Rostant and Bertrand Bhikarry.
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
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Climate ACTT project/Bhp Billiton, Conservation International and Canari (cont;d)
“ To many p eopl e t hes e tall pea ks make fo r a c hallen ging b ut s cenic hike. B u t t hey a re not jus t a no the r t all m oun tain to climb . �
Capacity building for the Board of Directors and members for same project/ climate resilience and organizational building. All directors took part and it was officiated by Canari.
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
ARTICLES Island Wetlands—Got Crabs—Manage Them Bertrand Bhikarry
"Isn't managing a swamp taking it a bit too far?"
An argument for proper management plans, and for skilled people to implement them in dealing with the islands wetlands. Management may undoubtedly be one of the top occupational niches for the 21st century: but isn't managing a swamp taking it a bit too far? A manager’s task is defined as the 'organisation and coordination of activities in accordance with certain policies, and which achieves stated objectives'; but since a wetland is not dimensionally bound, it calls for unique management styles not readily templated. Wetlands, or swamps, or marshes; the nomenclature is interchangeable but generally it is understood to be areas which remain submerged, can be partially submerged at times, or is in close proximity to rivers or lakes. What has never been questioned by those who derive a way of life from the resource, is that it is beneficial and of very great importance? Of course there are the people who do not interact with these low level, muddy and pest filled areas, yet value them as primary assets (real estate). These groups can harbour interests detrimental to the welfare of the wetlands. At times for example, a requirement for land space, or even the waterways, as the first stage in a developmental thrust, would justify the potential for damage as 'forward thinking', or as adding economic benefit to the wider population. The rights of both groups of wetland 'users' are to be acknowledged. The former group, may be bound by tradition, even poverty, and usually only derive personal benefits from their activities within the confines of the swamp, or its contiguous dependencies. The latter group may have obtained rights by virtue of purchase and feel privileged to convert the space into a built asset. Unfortunately it cannot end where the rights of one group, overrides that of another. Wetlands are multi-dimensional, as stated earlier. Those considerations go beyond what's above in its treetops, what is on the land, and what is in the water. Wetlands are the sites of early mankind's veritable toehold on earth. If a man ever stepped onto the land in a manner of speaking, it would have been in a wetland area. If eons afterward, migrants landed at a new place, it would have been a wetland that drew them in as a safe haven, or a source of food. Nothing has changed. Wetlands still feed us all, if indirectly. To throttle the functions of the wetland as a short term solution to any one groups problems will surely come back to haunt generations to come; our own children as it were. To forestall that unpleasant scenario, good management of the wetland resource is the key approach. Enter the wetland manager. As important as the wetlands are for the food security of our islands, they have another intrinsic feature; that of habitat protection for the land dweller. As irony would have it, man gravitated toward the wetlands as a source of food, and in the process also made his home there - Permanently. It does not bode well for the resource. The shortened prognosis is; man will encroach on wetlands in pursuit of his activities, and the loss of wetland will place man's habitat at nature's peril.
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
Certain situations prove the need of wetlands management. In Trinidad, illegally situated rice farmers almost got away with large scale expansion of paddies at the Nariva swamp lands in the late 1980's. Subsequent to that there were efforts to drill for oil in the wooded lands adjacent to the same swamp by the oil interests. In staving off the negative encroachment at that time, the Nariva Swamp may be luckier than other T&T wetlands, in that it has come under management. It's one of the largest freshwater wetlands in the Caribbean, and has been on the List of Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention since 1993. The Bon Accord Lagoon in Tobago may not be so lucky, even though it too has been declared a Ramsar site. If there is ever a need for a wetland management plan, the Tobago Bon Accord Lagoon and marsh can claim to it as a matter of utmost urgency. The home of a large part of the islands biodiversity stock, with a depth of life comparable to the hallowed Main Ridge Rainforest, it is under siege by a multitude of ills. The identified threats to the Buccoo Reef and the Bon Accord Lagoon are no secret, and can be allocated to all user groups of the area and its environs. Obviously at Bon Accord it's time for professional management. For 'organisation and coordination of activities in accordance with certain policies, and which achieves stated objectives'. In all probability, plans and management concepts exist for the Bon Accord Lagoon, as there has been no lack of attention given to it by the scientific community on one end, and by local community user groups on the other. Indeed suggestions have been made by consultants that a team comprising representatives from the stakeholder groups be mandated to serve all interests. It's a good idea but only to a point, because even such a body would need a focused manager to work the plans. Acquiring skills for managing wetlands is a tenuous path for the aspiring professional. It was not long ago when practitioners of the sciences dominated the line-up for jobs emanating in parks, reserves and conservation tracts. It may no longer hold true. Other skills are needed to facilitate the management processes there, and among these are the typical proficiencies the business sector habitually cultivates. Certainly in the small island states of the Caribbean, there is room for the person who wishes to be part of the stewardship process for wetlands and its outlying areas. No matter what background such persons have, with wetland protection it is the vision, not the hindsight that counts.
Authors Note: There are several excellent courses offered continually by many organisation and governments. Among those are the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education who offers training in location based facilities as well as online. For the latest and in-depth information on the short courses, including content, dates, duration and tuition fees please see their website: www.unesco-ihe.org/shortcourses
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"Of course there are the people who do not interact with these low level, muddy and pest filled areas, yet value them as primary assets (real estate). " “ To many p eopl e t hes e tall pea ks make fo r a c hallen ging b ut s cenic hike. B u t t hey a re not jus t a no the r t all m oun tain to climb . �
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
ECOLOGY NOTES What is social facilitation? Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Dept of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies
“Social facilitation is seen in a variety of behaviours including feeding, teaching, scavenging, sexual behaviour and the formation of groups and group displays."
First of all, what is social facilitation? Social facilitation can basically be defined as “a tendency for individuals to perform differently when in the presence of others.” It is seen in a variety of behaviours including feeding, teaching, scavenging, sexual behaviour and the formation of groups and group displays. In order to understand social facilitation in animals, one has to first understand the origins of this theory as it relates to humans, because it was first proposed for human behaviour. Pioneer experiments in this field were conducted by Norman Triplett in 1987. Where he examined a cyclist’s performance when he was alone and then again when he was racing another cyclist. He found that when he was alone, the cycling time was slow compared to when placed with another cyclist. However, these results were attributed to human competitive instinct. Further studies done by Floyd Allport who later coined the term “social facilitation” in 1924, continued along the same trend of comparing individuals in a task carried out alone and then again in the presence of individuals. However, it was Hazel Markus from the University of Michigan who put a different twist (good word) on these experiments, in that the test subjects were doing tasks that they were accustomed doing, but what about those they were not accustomed to doing. For these experiments, the other individuals present were referred to as the “audience”. Where the person or groups of persons paying attention to the individual doing the task or “incidental audience” who has a passive role. It was found that an audience, regardless of the role they played, caused the individual to improve at simple tasks but to do worse on more complicated tasks. What does this translate to in the animal kingdom? It can make the species better at a certain task which is vital to its survival. One example is Griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) which are specialized scavenging birds rely on finding carcasses. However, most of the group gets food by following the individuals that directly see the carcasses. So that the group on a whole benefits Examples of social facilitation have also been seen with spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in experiments concerning the location of cubs. When recordings of a cub’s calls or whoops were played back for the group, members of the group would position themselves in the direction the sound came from, but would only start searching if the mother did so. In the is species, it was found that social facilitation played a role in other components of behaviour such as, feeding, scent-marking, greeting ceremonies and group formation and hunting. So although this term is not readily associated with biodiversity, but without it social animal species would not be able to survive.
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
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Tobago's Wildlife
“ To many p eopl e t hes e tall pea ks make fo r a c hallen ging b ut s cenic hike. B u t t hey a re not jus t a no the r t all m oun tain to climb . �
Left column (top to bottom): Pomerac (Syzygium malaccense), Soursop (Annona muricata) and White-tipped Dove (Leptotila verreauxi) Right column (top to bottom): Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) and Heliconia sp and Rufous -breasted Hermit (Glaucis hirsutus) (Photos by Karl Phillips, Matt Kelly and others)
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
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WHAT’S HAPPENING @ ET
ET is now on Facebook and Twitter We invite everyone on Facebook to join. Here we will post upcoming events, links, photos and videos on ET matters and other environmental issues. ET group link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/ group.php?gid=53362888661&ref=ts And keep up to date on what we are up to by following us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/environ_tobago
Environment TOBAGO Environmental and Services Map of Tobago They are excellent and will be published every two years. Published in January 2008. Requests for these maps can be made to ET office.
Volunteers needed!
Persons who are interested in helping with cataloguing and filing of ET’s educational, research and operational material and archiving.
New Members
ET has a membership of 433 worldwide, ET welcomes the following members:
No new members for this quarter
Literature Available
The Tropical Rainforest of Tobago — The Main Ridge Graham Wellfare and Hema Singh Published by Environment TOBAGO pp 37 Price: TT120.
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
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Environment TOBAGO t-shirts and caps now available
Type: Polos Size: Small, Medium & Large Price: TT$150.00 Colours: Kelly green, royal blue, red, gold and ash grey Description: ET logo embroidered on left breast, sponsor’s logo printed on the back.
Type: Regular tees Size: Small, Medium & Large Price: TT$100.00 Colours: Kelly green, red, black, navy blue, ash, purple, royal blue and black forest Description: ET logo printed on front and sponsor logos on sleeves at the back centre
Type: Lady’s tees Size: Small & Medium Price: TT$100.00 Colours: Lime green, red and black Description: ET logo printed on front and sponsor logo at the back centre
Price: TT$120.00
Orders can be made through the office.
Products featuring artwork from Rainforest Education & Awareness Programme
Tote bags-TT$120
Burlap bags -TT$120
Postcards TT$15 per card or TT$100 for a pack of Drawstring bags-TT$130
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
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READERS’ FORUM Dear ET Newsletter Readers, Office:
11 Cuyler Street Scarborough, Tobago, W.I.
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 503, Scarborough, Tobago, W.I.
Phone: 1-868-660-7462 Fax: 1-868-660-7467 E-mail: envir@tobago.net
We want to hear from YOU! Comments may be edited for length and clarity. Send your comments to: joannesewlal@gmail.com or envir@tobago.net
GUIDELINES TO CONTRIBUTORS Articles on the natural history and environment are welcome especially those on Trinidad and Tobago. Articles should not exceed approximately 1200 words (2 pages) and the editors reserve the right to edit the length. Images should be submitted as separate files. Submit material to any of the following: 1) joannesewlal@gmail.com 2) envir@tobago.net
We are on the web http:// www.Environmenttobago.net
Deadline for submission of material for the 2nd Quarter 2017 issue of the Bulletin is June 10, 2017.