Environment TO BAGO new slett er
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Volume 5 Issue 1
n vi r on m e n t 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 an 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
World Wetlands Day 2010
1
ET & BPTT Celebrate Young Artists of Tobago
2
Keep A Clean School Com- 5 petition 2010 LEAD Program—Europe 2009
6
CERMES Training Course
8
What is Fitness?
8
Land Trust for T&T
9
Beggar thy Neighbour
9
The Lionfish and the Caribbean
11
Biodiversity in Wetlands
13
Book Review
14
What’s Happening @ ET
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Notes to contributors
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March 2010
World Wetlands Day 2010 and ET Environment TOBAGO The second of February each year is World Wetlands Day. It marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on the 2nd February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Each year, government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and groups of citizens at all levels of the community across the world, have taken advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits. World Wetlands Day 2010 was commemorated by Environment Tobago (ET) with the launch of Postcards with the theme for this year in mind- “Caring For WetlandsThe Answer To Climate Change”, which highlighted some of the talents shown by local up and coming artists from schools right here in Tobago. Environment TOBAGO, with the kind sponsorship of Ace Printery Fed-Traders Ltd., Mr. Betrand Bhikkary, ET director, and Zoe Mason, ET's volunteer is speaking with an inter- launched “Caring for Wetlands Postcards” featuring ten of the ested visitor to the booth. best artwork submitted by students. This is in line with this year’s theme “Caring For Wetlands- an Answer To Climate Change”. All the stunning artwork was done by local students primarily from Roxborough Secondary, Goodwood Highschool and Speyside Anglican Primary School winners and exceptional work from last year's Wetlands and Poster Competition. It is hoped that this will provide two fold benefitsraising awareness of wetlands in Tobago and the profiles of young artists of Tobago who are very conscious of their natural heritage and its management and conservation. We also salute all the parents, teachers and principals who continue to nurture and mould the minds of these young students. ET Ms. Hema Singh (ET’s Eduwould also like to sincerely thank Mr. Ramdhan and the rest cation Coordinator), speakof the dedicated Team at Ace Printery Fed-Traders Ltd. for ing with Fabrizio Ceppi a local tour-guide. their continuous support of our education initiatives. Mrs. Patricia, Turpin, ET's President, kicked off the launch with a reminder of how what is World Wetlands Day and it's history. She also
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
March 2010 Editor: Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Assistant Editor: Christopher K. Starr Design & Layout: Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Technical Support: Nolan Craigwell, Jerome Ramsoondar Nigel Austin Enid Nobbee Contributors: Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Christopher K. Starr Bertrand Bhikkary Sebrenia Roberts Environment TOBAGO Photographs: Environment TOBAGO
Board of Directors 2008-2009 President:: Patricia Turpin Vice-President: Kamau Akili Secretary: Kay Seetal Treasurer: Shirley Mc Kenna Committee members: Wendy Austin William Trim Fitzherbert Phillips Geoffrey Lewis Bertrand Bhikkary Heather Pepe Ryan Allard David Antoine Andy Roberts Darren Henry
The photo on the left shows that much of the garbage collected comprised of plastic bottles, and the photo on the right shows members of the clean up crew hard at work
spoke of the Ramsar Convention and Trinidad and Tobago's international obligations for protecting and managing wetlands. Attending the launch were representatives of the Unit Trust Corporation, Mrs. Desiree Hackette-Murray, Administrative Officer II from the Health and Social Services, Mrs. Lenora Wallace and Mr. Clifton Campbell. Both Mrs. Wallace and Mr. Campbell have been partners with Environment Tobago in promoting education on wetlands. The President of the Belle Garden Wetlands Association, Mr. Bryan Bain and the team of eco tour guides were also present. The Association has been involved in carrying out guided eco tours for all schools in Tobago. Look at how much we collected!! Several teachers and students also stopped by the office to view the artwork. Many expressed their joy of seeing the creativity and ingenuity of local artists and congratulated ET on this initiative. In the short-term, the postcards can be purchased at ET. The exhibition of these works was displayed at Gulf City Mall on Friday February 5th 2010 from 11:00 a.m.-5:00 pm.
ET & BPTT Celebrate Young Artists of Tobago Environment TOBAGO In October last year Environment Tobago (ET) partnered with BP Trinidad and Tobago LLC to launch the My Heritage; My Future Art Competition. Since then, twenty-one schools submitted over sixty entries. The competition was one element in the Rainforest Education and Awareness Programme. The entire project outlines an
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education and awareness campaign, which included a book on the Main Ridge Forest Reserve, an Art Competition and the production of Reusable bags. The project combined two fundamental concepts of environmental management and sustainability: Natural Resource Conservation and Waste Reduction. Mr. Kamau Akili, ET’s Vice President, was the chairperson for the ceremony and congratulated BPTT for their sustained interest in the environment, particularly Tobago’s environment, where they do not have an operational presence. Mr. Akili went on to tell the story of how the project came into being all the way back in 2001 when Graham Wellfare and his partner traveled to Tobago from the UK. They went on to devote over two years to volunteering at Environment Tobago during which time Wellfare wrote the book on the Main Ridge Rainforest Reserve, recognizing its importance not only as a special ecological treasure but also the oldest legally protected rainforest in the western hemisphere. Mrs. Patricia Turpin, ET’s President, in her address, welcomed the group and congratulated the artists, their parents and teachers. She also spoke of the importance of our rainforests and the role of education in its proper management. Mrs. Karen Ragoonanan-Jalim Environmental & Regulatory Manager at BPTT, brought greetings on behalf of her company. Mrs. Jalim commended ET on its continuous work in the environmental management and conservation over the years and stated that ET and BPTT shared this common agenda. She thanked the Tobago House of Assembly, Division of Education, Youth Affairs & Sport and the teachers for embracing this project. Mrs. Karen Ragoonanan-Jalim, EnviMrs. Eleanor King, The Chief Education ronmental & Regulatory Manager at Coordinator, of the Division of Education, Youth BPTT brings remarks on behalf of the Affairs & Sport brought greetings from her Divicompetition's sole sponsors sion. She reiterated the Division’s full support of this project and many others, with whom ET and the Division have partnered. Mrs. King commended both Environment Tobago and BPTT, who also support many of the Division’s activities. She ended by saying that through trust and collaboration many things can be achieved. The competition brought to the fore many talented young artists who were encouraged to continue exploring their talent and their connection with nature. Place
Name
School
Student
School Prize
1st Place
Joseph Lewis
Pentecostal Light & Life Primary
$3,000
$2,500
2nd Place
Sanjay Persaud
$2,500
$500
3rd Place
Tyrell Lewis
Buccoo Government Primary School Roxborough Anglican Primary
$2,000
$500
4th Place
Dayna Borrett Lesharo Pirthseesingh
$1,500
$500 $500
th
5 Place
Michael K. Hall Step Up International Academy
$1,000
MISSION STATEMENT
E
nvironment TOBAGO
conserves Tobago’s natural and living resources and advances the knowledge and understanding of such resources, their wise and sustainable use and their essential relationship to human health and the quality of life
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
Special Prizes • •
Infants class of Speyside Anglican Primary School Students of School for the Deaf Name
School
Edwin Campbell
Step Up International Academy
Alexia Roberts Ryell Lewis Ojani Walker Kadisha Baird Justin Quamina Cherrando Parisienne Lehrell Brooks Gerel Granderson Tricia Diaz Ronelle Scotland Celeste Scotland
Roxborough Secondary School Roxborough AC School Mason Hall Government Primary School Pentecostal Light & Life High School Pentecostal Light & Life Primary School Pentecostal Light & Life Primary School Roxborough Secondary School Pentecostal Light & Life High School Signal Hill Secondary School Signal Hill Secondary School Bishops High School
“ To many people t hes e t all pe aks mak e for a challe ngi ng but sce nic hike. B ut t hey are not j ust anot her t all mount ai n to clim b. ”
Mrs. Patricia Turpin and Mrs. Jalim with the 5 top winners of the Art competition
Mrs. Patricia Turpin presents Mrs. Jalim of BPTT with a token of appreciation
Artwork of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners (from left to right). Joseph Lewis, Sanjay Persaud and Tyrell Lewis.
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Keep A Clean School Competition 2010 Environment TOBAGO In recognition of the mounting concerns of solid waste generation and pollution, particularly in small island developing states such as Tobago, Environment Tobago with the kind sponsorship of BHP Billiton, Petrotrin and the National Lotteries Control Board have partnered this year to host the “Keep A Clean School Competition”. This is the 10th Anniversary of the competition. Principals and teachers of more than 25 schools along with representatives from the competition’s sponsors, Mrs. Neerupa Latchman and Mrs. Eileen Blackman and Mr. Rawle Frederick from the Solid Waste Management Company Limited were present at the launch held on Friday 22nd January at the Botanics Conference Facility. The “Keep A Clean School Competition” is a programme for waste reduction and pollution prevention in Tobago’s schools and has received the full sanction by the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport, Tobago House of Assembly. Historically, the competition has been very successful throughout schools in Tobago arming teachers and students with knowledge and hands-on learning about waste reduction through the 3 R’s principle – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and more recently, the inclusion of Rethinking waste. Students are required to identify, design, plan and implement solid waste reduction and management programmes within their school with a teacher acting as a facilitator. The project should involve positive actions by students that would contribute to a reduction in waste generation which would mean less waste heading to the Studley Park Landfill. The specific objectives of the competition include:
“waste reduction through the 3 R’s principle – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and more recently, the inclusion of Rethinking waste.“ “ the prese nce of FP m ay be an indic ation, an "e arly war ni ng syst em", t hat our s eas ar e pollut ed and that e nvironme nt al c hanges are affecti ng t he ability of wild animals to res ist i nfectious dis eas es”
1. To increase awareness among students of the need to reduce solid waste pollution in Tobago.
2. To improve student knowledge of ways to reduce solid waste generation and properly dispose of solid waste.
3. To facilitate development of positive student attitudes for a pollution-free Tobago.
4. To encourage students to take actions to reduce the generation of solid waste and to practice appropriate waste disposal habits. To take pride in their schools and communities. This year the competition has a special focus on community action. This is to further develop a more holistic approach to solving environmental challenges and also to cultivate environmental stewards who are willing to share knowledge and embrace their community and are willing to act for change. We commend all our schools which won last year, the projects were all testimony to the innovative and creative ways which can be used to address environmental problems. Our students and teachers clearly demonstrated the usefulness of this competition as a tool for learning. We hope that this year many more schools will participate and benefit from the competition. We take this opportunity to sincerely thank BHP Billiton, Petrotrin and the National Lotteries Control Board for their unwavering support and making this our 10th Anniversary competition a possibility!
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
To support the schools which are participating in this year’s Keep A Clean School Competition, we have been making school visits to assist the teachers with the implementation of the three R’s- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Students were encouraged to share their knowledge and learn more about solid waste and its harmful effects on humans and the natural environment.
“ To many people t hes e t all pe aks mak e for a challe ngi ng but sce nic hike. B ut t hey are not j ust anot her t all mount ai n to clim b. ”
Some photos from our school visits
Leadership for Environment & Development- LEAD Europe 2009 Environment TOBAGO LEAD International is a global network of individuals and non-governmental organisations committed to sustainable development. LEAD is an independent not-forprofit organisation established in 1991 by The Rockefeller Foundation. Since inception LEAD has recruited and trained over 2000 people from over 90 countries across the world. LEAD’s main mission is to inspire leadership and change for a sustainable world and also: • • •
To explore leadership and sustainability challenges and opportunities in Europe and the wider world To create a network of leaders for sustainability in Europe who can act together to address urgent global sustainability challenges To foster understanding and collaboration across all sectors including govern-
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ment, business, the media and notfor-profit organisations. In 2009, Hema Singh, ET’s Education Coordinator, was accepted to participate in the Training in Europe and China. The training was intense involved a creative combination of inspirational speakers, case studies, site visits, panel discussions, peer to peer learning and films. The programme’s duration is six months and involved three onsite modules. • Module 1 was held in London and the theme was: Towards a Low Carbon LEAD Associates Society• Module 2 was held in Brussels, Belgium and carried the theme: The EU and Leadership Towards s Sustainable Future • Module 3, the International Session was held in Beijing, China and the theme was: Impacts, Innovation and Interdependence The LEAD learning journey used leadership and climate change as a lens to explore sustainable development issues among government, business and communities. In addition to the onsite modules, each participant had to produce a LEAD Associate Project working in collaboration with other participants. Hema worked with people from India, France and Greece and established a website for young leaders called Green Dreams & Realities LEAD Associates in London- a role play (www.gdrealities.com). The website features activity interviews and stories of people around the world who are considered inspirations to young people. LEAD also encourages its participants to use social media such as Facebook, Email and Skype in order to traverse geographical boundaries. The international session in China also brought together several hundred LEAD Fellows and Associates. At this session, the 2009 Associates around the world graduated and became Fellows. This allowed them to be brought into the fold of the international network and find support for projects, get expertise and make contacts and maintain relationships. Environment Tobago would like to thank the JB Fernandes Memorial Trust for their support in building capacity within our LEAD Associates- visiting "an urban green organisation. space" - Hackney Clapton Park Estate Community Site
“ the prese nce of FP m ay be an indic ation, an "e arly war ni ng syst em", t hat our s eas ar e pollut ed and that e nvironme nt al c hanges are affecti ng t he ability of wild animals to res ist i nfectious dis eas es”
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
CERMES Training Course on Caribbean Flooding Environment TOBAGO During the week of October 26th and 30th 22 Caribbean professionals and post graduate students attended a weeklong training on Flood modeling and Flood Risk Management and adaptation to Climate Change. The purpose of the training aimed to bring Caribbean people in this field closer together to network and to encourage collaboration. The 22 participants came from Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba. The course combined theoretical concepts underpinning flood modeling, flood hazard identification and mapping together with more hands on exercises involving advanced computer software applications and case studies within and outside the region. Of particular relevance to the Caribbean situation, the course provided the participants with practice on rainfall-runoff modeling, sewer flow modeling, real-time applications, urban drainage and flood risk attribution. Participants were also invited to attend the premier of the film The Burning Agenda – The Climate Change Crisis in the Caribbean. This was followed by a vibrant panel discussion on the Caribbean situation and position at the Copenhagen Summit in December 2009. The course was presented by two experts in the field of modeling; Professor Slobodan Djordjevic of the Centre for Water Systems at the University of Exeter, UK and Dr Ole Mark, the Head of Research and Development at Danish Hydraulic Institute in Copenhagen. They were strongly supported by Drs Adrian Cashman and Leonard Nurse from CERMES.
“ To many people t hes e t all pe aks mak e for a challe ngi ng but sce nic hike. B ut t hey are not j ust anot her t all mount ai n to clim b. ”
ECOLOGY NOTES What is the meaning of Fitness? Jo-Anne Nina Sewlal Dept of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies When it comes to ecology, the word “fitness” does not refer to organisms that are good athletes. The concept of “fitness” was introduced by Charles Darwin where in the theory of natural selection. However, his definition of this term attracted criticism as “fit” in this sense means that an individual is fit just by surviving to a ripe old age, by escaping predation and resisting disease. But this is corrected for in the modern definition of this concept, “the individual’s relative contribution of progeny to the population”. Simply put fitness is exhibited by those individuals whose offspring survive and produce offspring. Simply put, an organism is deemed “fit” its offspring avoids early death and survives to the age of reproduction and produces offspring of its own. Therefore it can then be said that the parent is fit. For its offspring to be considered fit, its offspring or the third generation has to survive and produce offspring.
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ARTICLES A Land Trust for T&T Bertrand Bhikarry Environment TOBAGO Director Here's the plan. What if our NGO were to buy plots of land which are in key locations for wildlife habitat, for watershed protection? Land generally important to the environment in some way. The money? From everyone on the face of the earth who would donate to an Environment Tobago account set aside to purchase suitable plots. The legal implications for plots which belong to an NGO held in trust for many owners would make it a veritable land fortress - A time capsule with which no one can interfere. We could identify pieces of land like Englishmans Bay, some wetlands areas like Granby, Carapuse, even Charlotteville Estate if there are parcels going. Plots in Trinidad too. Does anyone doubt in the power of media to fuel interest a project like this? The motivations for a land trust are impeccable : Take care of the ecological balance on our planet in the face of land use ravages, and leave a little bit of nature for those who have yet to come. The cost of research projects to create convoluted arguments TO CONVINCE policy makers TO THINK about saving the area is far greater than the price of a simple purchase. After the purchase the NGO could attain sustainability by simply asking for user fees, pass through fees, and even continue with a unique drive to buy lands by soliciting the citizens of the world. A MAD SCHEME? Well, Yes. However the solutions out there are not working toward the ideals of sustainability, and time is certainly not on our side.
Beggar thy Neighbour Bertrand Bhikarry Environment TOBAGO Director Before we departed the classrooms of childhood to enter other forums for learning, we were made aware of how its natural phenomena and geographical assets impacted on a country's global profile. Who hadn't heard of the Northern Lights, the Amazon, the Rivers Ganges and Nile, before blowing ten candles off a cake? That the school curriculum then only focussed on the larger than life examples may have something to do with the island mentality that what we have just isn't worth much. At least not if something bigger is there to look at. However bigger isn't always better is it? Imagine you are in California USA, with great plans to build another golf course
“ the prese nce of FP m ay be an indic ation, an "e arly war ni ng syst em", t hat our s eas ar e pollut ed and that e nvironme nt al c hanges are affecti ng t he ability of wild animals to res ist i nfectious dis eas es�
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“We cannot really look to the Law, its essentially not performing as a guardian of natural assets and resources. “
“ To many people t hes e t all pe aks mak e for a challe ngi ng but sce nic hike. B ut t hey are not j ust anot her t all mount ai n to clim b. ”
Environment TOBAGO newsletter
around the creek on your latest purchase of land. If someone several states away is making a decision to build a dam, say in Arizona, Nevada or even far away as Utah, there is the real possibility of your watercourse drying, as would your investment. So someone somewhere in that larger picture makes a decision affecting either you or a dam builder upstate. Thus is 'Freedom' curtailed. In the continental US there are many owners, many locations and many rules governing usage of the natural environment. In this little two by four state Trinidad and Tobago, how fortunate are we to have our own rivers, our own forests, even our own wildlife? In the big countries as we saw, it's very a different feeling. Over there, management, movement and politics all play a part to dampen the joy of the 'ownership' we in Trinidad and Tobago enjoy unconditionally. So we speak of the privilege of ownership. Its all subjective though, this privilege. We are a small population in a tiny place and we do not employ the right to manage our assets responsibly. Examples abound of environmental irresponsibility. Where to start fixing the damage? That's the dilemma. We cannot really look to the Law, its essentially not performing as a guardian of natural assets and resources. Certainly not for generations of those who are yet to be born. The legal system we currently employ protect the rights of the landowner as personal property. That this law was in effect written by a ruling class at a time where aristocracy and serfdom were the order of the day seems a trifle not worth consideration. Look to the politicians and expect only token acknowledgement unless the topic on the table can lose them votes - or win public support for them. The latter is a rare case as environmental advocacy rarely creates friends. In a bizarre evolution of the need to represent the good of the Trinidad and Tobago public, representatives merely seek the good of their supporting public. In trying to save the natural environment for future generations there's no use looking to the state agencies, they are essentially puppets if anyone cares to admit it. Big business can only go so far as their PR departments can impact, or as a champion on the Board may wish to indulge. 'Dead in the water!', that’s what a pragmatic environmentalist may offer to fellow tree huggers crying the watersheds full as they moan the crime of the ages. Disdain for the rights of others is apparently the order of the day in our twin island state, and no more so than right here in Tobago today. This little slice of paradise is just 116 square miles, populated by what amounts to a single family of displaced souls from across the Atlantic, yet from its shoddy appearance they manage to hold little pride in their inadvertently acquired asset. The problems Tobago faces (there just isn't space to list all which its bigger sister suffers) in land development can be squarely dumped at the door of the landowners. Each parcel which comes under the blade of an earth mover, each rock which is displaced without due regard for its aesthetic or ecological value is revealing disdain to all else, shown by the present titleholder, tenant, or lessee. That they would arbitrarily make decisions only on the shortest term economic outlook cannot augur well for the next generation. That they care not for the common good of all the islands residents, which includes plant, animal and human life is Disdain. That anyone in a position to take care of this small piece of land would expect others to educate and enhance, mayhap even enforce, is truly not holding in mind the saying that "the land we hold now is not a gift from our ancestors; it’s a loan from our descendants". Land holding is a privilege which denotes an element of freedom. Disdain for privilege of any type leads to erosion of freedoms- sooner rather than later. That a section of society looks on in disbelief that another part would place the quality of island
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
The Lionfish. Is it a visual treat or a veritable threat? Bertrand Bhikarry Environment TOBAGO Director Pterois volitans may have come to us in the Atlantic basin via a washed out aquarium as some suggest, but its introduction to our coastal waters may not be the important thing to worry about at this stage. It's also a fact that the lionfish is established 'successfully' maybe as even as far back as 2007, but again the concern over the details may only be of passing historical significance if western civilization were to survive the next quarter century. Pterois volitans - also known as the At the recent South Eastern Carib- Lionfish bean Conference on Marine Protected Area Management, a five day event hosted by the Buccoo Reef Trust, one Rhode Island University based scientist was severely roasted by the managers of the various parks for his gentle suggestion that maybe the lionfish should be left alone - maybe to survive, maybe to perish in the strange waters in which it haplessly finds itself immersed. The good scholars argument vouchsafed that the other problems faced by the stewards of the marine coastal zones may not benefit from a rapid and emotionally driven chase to eradicate an 'outsider', albeit a voracious predator indeed. Maybe that's the key to the lionfish's scare factor. It's not a timid retiring bland off colour species which feeds on un-named plant material. No! The lionfish eats any and everything, and seems to be able to propagate without risk to its daily existence. The scientist was right, in my opinion, but in fairness, each person present who took a position to actively pursue (and destroy) the erstwhile alien also has a point, even if it's based on their own, or their organizations interests. For example, the various Fisheries personnel at the Crown Point based conference worry about the threat to their fish stocks - Lionfish can and will eat anything from crustaceans to Cavalli, in fact if they can corner it the lionfish will swallow it. It's a bad scenario because the reefs are home to the juveniles for a lot of sea-going species with economic value for humans. Those coming from the Marine Recreational sector also took a loud and abusive position against the Rhode Island academic, arguing their own case that the species which bring sightseeing hordes to underwater venues are also in the direct path of the lion fish's appetites. And it's a huge hunger the pesky critter develops - Lionfish experiments at Oregon State University's Zoology Department proved they can trap and eat fish almost two thirds of their size. That's not all. It never is with bad news. Lionfish can successfully trap and eat the species which control underwater weeds from overrunning coral, that beautiful but slow and fairly immobile creature. The problematic piscine’s ability to feed at night allows them to prey on unsuspecting day time species coming home to the reef, and on those nocturnal animals who begin moving at dusk. There seems to be no preferred position in their hunt, like with the shark which has an optimal run-up stance. Lionfish can hang vertically looking up, or down, for that matter, they can float upside down, and still strike from any of these situations. This means they can hunt inside caverns, holes or channels. Seemingly clumsy, maybe because of their exquisite fin deployment, lionfish do
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move quickly. Quickly enough to swallow an unsuspecting prey even if it’s among a shoal of its family members. The reasons given for its success in this approach lies in its uniqueness to the region. From the potential preys visual perspective the large spread and towering dorsal fins hide powerful caudal fins, and its cavernous maw expedites the 'hiding' process. Indeed a lionfish can lay in wait, and then literally block a targeted group of reef dwellers against escape. It can then select and swallow its prey without the others realizing something's amiss. A few among us in the diver community offer a theory that the hapless reef dwellers think its just a piece of reef near to them. Granted they are beautiful to look at. The park manager at Bonaire's National MPA confessed she spends a measurable amount of time visually taking in the impact of the creature, almost always in reverence of its striking coloration and finnage, yet she never hesitates to net it, considering it to be the quintessential threat to her park. She's already destroyed over one hundred and twenty since the initial sighting in October last year. However it is not a viable consideration to hunt it to Count Zero, nor to aim for its successful removal it from any suitable habitat in the Atlantic it calls home now. Incidentally that's an area which has been documented from Maine's coast in the north to Bonaire's Marine Park in the South, and as far east as the Bahamas. Instead the lionfish could prove to be a blessing to certain concerns faced by those same two groups who hate it so much. How so? The short answer is healthy populations of shark and large grouper can control the lionfish rampage in the Atlantic Basin. However both those popular species are used for human food. To pursue the trend of thought, if the lion fish is successfully identified as the most direct threat to our survival in that it can eat our food supply before it can become a food supply itself. It virtually forces us to protect these two key ecological species. The idea may be skewed logic, but in the Pterois volitans - The Lionfish recognition that logic itself fails to impress, this recursive argument may do the job and make the coastal zone managers’ job easier. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION on methods to control the lionfish invasion you can contact the Dept. of Marine Resources and Fisheries T.L.H Building, Milford Road Scarborough, Tobago Tel 868 639 1382
“Fisheries personnel at the C r o w n Point based conference worry about the threat to their fish stocks “
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Environment TOBAGO newsletter
Biodiversity in the Wetlands Sebrenia Roberts Simply put Biodiversity or Biological Diversity is the variety of all organisms on earth. Scientists often study biodiversity at different levels these are ecosystem biodiversity e.g. forest, wetlands, deserts etc.; Species biodiversity that is the multiplicity of different plants and animals and genetic biodiversity or the vast selection of genes within the same species. As defined by Ramsar wetlands are areas of marsh fen peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing fresh, brackish, or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six (6) meters. This definition is very broad and covers habitats such as coral reefs, marshes, mud flats, mangroves swamps, lakes etc. In lakes lagoons and ponds there are plants such as water lilies that spread over the surface of the water. The jacana, which is specially adapted to feed in this area, has long toes for walking on these floating leaves while it forages for food in the water, which usually are snails, shrimps and small fishes. Birds such as ospreys dive in the water to catch fish and turned upside down in the water are jellyfishes waiting to get the scrapes. On the bottom, sea grasses, algae, mud, sand or rocks harbour fishes, crabs, starfishes, frogs, sea urchins, sea horses and many types of worms. In marshes one can find sedges, bullrushes and reeds as well as a few herbs and ferns. Moorhens and coots use the leaves to build and hide their nests. Many species including the West Indian Whistling Ducks and the caiman shelter in the marshes during the day and feed at night. Mud flats produce a wonderfully suitable growing surface for algae. Many animals e.g. crabs, molluscs and worms make their homes in burrows in the mud, venturing out to feed on algae and detritus. Sandpipers, egrets and herons prey on animals in the mud. Swallows and martins swoop in to catch flying insects. The trees that dominate wetlands Caiman stalking prey are called mangroves. There are mainly four types mangroves red, white, black and button mangrove. These dynamic trees are diverse in their functions as well as providing a home for countless different plants and animals. Mangroves often seen as wastelands and breeding grounds for mosquitoes perform many different functions and these are water purification, retention of nutrients, pollutants and sediments, supports biological productivity, groundwater recharge, shoreline stabilization and they act as wind breakers. Bacteria and fungi rapidly decompose the leaf litter of mangroves, increasing the protein content of the mud, and providing a rich and smelly food source for animals. On the roots of the mangrove there are brightly coloured sponges, fan worms, sea squirts, sea anemones, algae, barnacles and oysters. Juvenile fishes such as, barracudas, snappers and mosquito fishes all shelter from predators and feed in the roots of the mangroves. Perches on the roots to feed
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and rest are herons, egrets, swimming crabs and mangrove crabs. Insects bore into the orange and green lichen-streaked trunks. Woodpeckers feed on these insects and they along with parrots nest in holes in the trunks of these trees. Insects, caterpillars, crab all feed on the leaves and attract yellow warblers, and birds such as pelicans, vultures, seabirds, herons and even the Scarlet Ibises nest in the branches of the mangrove trees. These trees even house the silky anteater or “poorme-one” and it is mammals such as these which attract snakes to the mangroves. However our wetlands are threatened and being diminished daily, some of these threats are unregulated development, which leads to pointless cutting of the wetlands. Siltation due to poor agricultural practices, quarrying or development, tend to make the water unclear and reduces photosynthesis. It also reduces the carrying capacity of the waterbed resulting in flooding. Domestic waste and pesticides may contain high levels of nitrogen, which causes a growth spur in algae or eutrophication. Eutrophication causes less light to Working hard to clean the mangrove go into the water, which reduce photosynthesis and the oxygen content and eventually killing all life in the water. Illegal dumping and littering leaves our aquatic life in danger because often it gets stuck in the garbage and dies. Over fishing and illegal hunting tend lead to extinction of species and diminish the biodiversity of the wetland. So do your part be informed, be aware and pass on the knowledge!
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD Review of: F. Fraser Darling 1939. A Naturalist on Rona. Oxford: Clarendon 137 pp. [Nineteenth in a series on "naturalist-in" books.] Christopher K. Starr Dept of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies ckstarr@gmail.com
Frank Fraser Darling (1903-1979) did field work in the scottish highlands and islands over many years, with emphasis on the biology of gregarious vertebrates (Darling 1947). His study of the red deer, Cervus elaphus (Darling 1937), is a key work in the british animalecology tradition. The island of North Rona is both tiny and remote. Its area is only about one square kilometer, and at 59°07'N 05°51'W it lies about 62 km above the north coast of Scotland, beyond the Outer Hebrides. This book, subtitled Essays of a Biologist in Isolation, opens with the remark that "The web of experience is largely of your own weaving when you live on a small and remote island where there are no other human inhabitants." Depending on the person, it can become a prison or a satisfying world in itself. Darling spent an extended period on the island in 1938-39, together with his wife and son, although these appear only
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in the occasional use of "we" and two photos with an unexplained woman in them. Rona has had small human communities off and on since antiquity, but the last of these had died out a century before Darling's arrival. Even so, the landscape was enriched by many artefacts of buildings and fields, from which he drew inferences on how the long-gone people had lived. And he spent many happy hours restoring the cell of St Rónán (early 8th century), which had fallen into ruins. Much of the natural history of any very small island is unavoidably at and around the shore. Accordingly, the main focus of Darling's book is the littoral zone, with some attention to the "interior". This flat island is raised above the sea on all sides, so that there is no beach. As you may have noticed, people in any coastal area almost unavoidably spend a great deal of time looking toward the sea, and Rona provides a wealth of vantage points. Darling found one particular cliff especially suitable "for watching the pageant of the sea's edge." This pageant often included sharks and marine mammals close to shore. Three shore-nesting birds -- turnstones, puffins and great black-backed gulls (for whom the puffins are the main diet) -- come in for special attention. Among the special delights of this hard-core little book is a thoughtful disquisition on the form and functioning of their courtship displays. Another treats the proximate causes of aggregation in birds and mammals; the ultimate causes (why aggregation is favoured by natural selection) are not hard to grasp, but how do they go about initiating and maintaining the group? This is mainly posed around a comparison of the red deer with the atlantic grey seal, and Darling concludes that their rather similar social groupings arise out of very different circumstances. A period of chosen isolation such as Darling undertook requires considerable sympathy with one's surroundings and fellow creatures. One passage will serve to illustrate how this runs throughout A Naturalist on Rona: "Puffins excite our sympathy because of their mingled solemnity and ridiculousness. Their calm, dark eyes indicate a serene philosophy -- thought we are not entitled to make that interpretation -- and it is easy to fancy about them a patient resignation to the destiny of being a food supply." The book is illustrated with many fine black-and-white photos of landscapes and animals. References Darling, F.F. 1937. A Herd of Red Deer. London: Oxford Univ. Press 215 pp. Darling, F.F. 1947. Natural History in the Highlands and Islands. London: Collins 303 pp.
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“Much of the natural history of any very small island is unavoidably at and around the shore. “
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READERS’ FORUM Dear ET Newsletter Readers, Office:
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