Assault on our Marine Ecology
President, Environment TOBAGO
Patricia Turpin
In September 2007, there were reports/complaints from Scuba divers and Fishermen in Speyside. In October/ November, complaints from Scuba divers and fishermen in Charlotteville, and in December, there were complaints from Scuba divers and fishermen off Bloody Bay the Brothers and Sisters islands. A boat ( blue with cabin) stationed at Buccoo, owner Trinidadian known by the locals as “BASH”- is fishing out the sharks of all sizes- particularly the Hammerhead and Tiger which are endangered species. Hammerheads come to these waters around the Brothers and sisters Islands when the sea temperatures cool down in the “winter months”.
In December it was reported that they are also fishing Manta Rays.
The method of fishing is not by line but by Shark Net. This method according to our Fisheries Division in Tobago is illegal. It shows no discrimination in the size of the shark caught. The question brought to mind is, “do we have any concept about the effect of this removal of sharks on the ecology of the Reef systems? I am sure that we have all heard about the “food chain” and the effects that the removal of one species will have on the marine biodiversity.
Sharks are our marine predators. There is no excuse for catching Manta rays, known as the “gentle Giants” also come to these waters at this time of year for mating. We have heard inane remarks such as “we glad if they fish out them sharks”. The reason given, “We don’t like them” and “we are tired of catching half of a fish (fish cut in half by sharks)”.
It is clear that we need some serious education where marine ecology is concerned. In the meanwhile, the Fisheries division is understaffed, and the work of monitoring is falling to a few officers. So what are we to do? Is the ecologically minded citizen supposed to make a “citizens arrest”? Something must be done to stop this IMMEDIATELY.
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Book Review: FAR AWAY AND LONG AGO
John Graham Kerr 1950. A Naturalist in the Gran Chaco. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press 234 pp.
[Tenth in a series on "naturalist-in" books.]
Christopher K. Starr
Dept of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies
ckstarr99@hotmail.com
The third review in this series treated William Henry Hudson’s memoir about the Pampa region of Argentina. The title of the present piece is blithely and appropriately ripped off from Hudson’s (1923) magnificent autobiography.
The Paraná River is one of the three great river systems of South America. It comprises two arms, the Paraná and the Paraguay, which are joined for about the last 820 km on their mouth at the Río de la Plata estuary. Despite the names, one would not call the Paraguay a tributary of the Paraná, as the two are about equal. The Paraguay bisects the country of Paraguay as it runs south. To the east lies the originally forested where lives almost the entire population of the country. To the west is the virtually unpopulated Gran Chaco region.
The Chaco, which also occupies a large piece of northern Argentina, is a very different sort of biome from the Pampa to the south, and the transition between the two is strikingly abrupt. The Pampa is a fertile grassy plain covering an area about 150 times the size of Trinidad & Tobago. It is warm, constantly windy, humid to semi-arid, analogous to the prairie of North America and the steppe of Eurasia. We would call it a savanna. The Chaco is a similarly flat area of about the same size. The greater part of it is covered with wetlands and dense, thorny forest, although it is far from uniform. The part with which I am familiar, toward its southern limits, is mostly a tight dry forest, and the region as a whole is notably drier and hotter than the Pampa. It slopes gently toward the southeast and is crossed in the same direction by the Pilcomayo, a tributary of the Paraguay at the border between Argentina and Paraguay. Because of the land’s overall flatness, the rivers meander a great deal. Even today, the Chaco in Paraguay remains relatively unexplored.
John Kerr (1869-1957) was an english embryologist who became Professor of Zoology at Glasgow. He made two visits to the Gran Chaco, in 1889-91 and 1896-97. The first visit was as the naturalist on an exploring expedition. The second served mainly his own research on the south-american lungfish, Lepidosiren paradoxa in the area around the Pilcomayo River. However, he started with a stay at Buenos Aires, which allowed him to explore the Pampa. There is nothing special in his description of this region, but the Pampa is such a fine topic for natural history that it is a pleasure to read his impressions. As with Hudson, there is a great deal about the lives of the gauchos, birds and mammals.
This is not one of the more sedate naturalist-in books, as the expeditions were accompanied by great danger and difficulties. There are problems with scarcity of food and water, ill health, disaffection and desertion of crew members, and hostile Indians. At one point, Kerr’s group was rescued by argentinian cavalry just as the men were almost dead of hunger and expecting an imminent attack by hostiles. Several men died in the course of the expedition. As an adventure story, A Naturalist in the Gran Chaco rivals Gordon MacCreagh (1926) great book about the Amazon.
The Indians from whom an attack was expected were the Toba, or Guayacurú. Being surrounded by enemies, this tribe was almost cut off from the outside world. Kerr later became acquainted with them, lived with them for a time, and made extensive linguistic and ethnographic notes. He also came to know the Nakatoi, a closely-related tribe in constant hostility with the Toba. Kerr had two advantages in understanding these people. For one, he shared their interest in observing wild animals. More importantly, he did not come to sell them anything and so was not subject to the same suspicion as traders and missionaries.
At the extreme of the expedition up the Pilcomayo was a habitat known as the “palmar”, a level plain of coarse tall grass studded with tall Copernicia cerifera palms. This savanna is occasionally flooded over very large areas, and Kerr remarked that “The scenery of the palmar when first viewed produces a powerful impression, a certain weirdness and loneliness peculiarly its own.” That place is very high on my own list of ecotourist priorities.
There are plenty of details about particular species of land vertebrates, identified by both scientific and local names. Among my favourites is the giant anteater, Myrmecophaga jubata, which I regret never having seen in the wild. Kerr had a good sense of life habits as they relate to the form of an animal and made extensive use of dissections. His sense of the relationship between form and function is illustrated in his comment that the cream-headed eagle, Busarellus nigricollis, usually feeds on crabs, “although its long, sharp talons and the very rough under surface of its feet suggest rather a purely fish diet.”
There are also frequent comments on arthropods and other invertebrates, but he didn’t usually bother to identify these more than vaguely. A welcome exception has to do with the honey-storing habits of the social wasp Brachygastra lecheguana, an important source of honey for the Toba.
The book has a long concluding section on the south-american lungfish, which Kerr studied both in the field and laboratory. At that time, nothing was known of its reproduction or development. During much of the year, many Chaco fishes cannot breathe enough oxygen by means of their gills. The lungfish is one of several species with adaptations to survive seasonal drying of the swamps. Each fish spends the dry season in a burrow in the mud, without feeding, breaking out when the rains come.
Kerr reached its habitat (during the second expedition) just at the onset of the wet season, which was also the lungfish’s breeding season. They breed in burrows at the bottom of the swamp, shallower than their dry-season burrows. He first sight of a lungfish came as it was being cooked by some Indians. Kerr ate some and pronounced it “most tasty”.
Kerr had some success in keeping the fish in field aquaria and directly observing their development and behaviour, in addition to examing a great many captured specimens. His later research career focused on the comparative embryology of the three living species of lungfishes.
Reference
Hudson, W.H. 1923. Far Away and Long Ago. London: J.M. Dent 353 pp.
MaCreagh, G. 1926. White Waters and Black. New York: Century 404 pp.
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Do you want to be a whale & dolphin conservation volunteer?
Volunteers are wanted in the following areas to help in a whale and dolphin conservation project in Trinidad and Tobago run by the Cetacean Conservation and Research Organization (CCARO), a local, non-profit company. This work is purely voluntary and we regret that no monetary compensation can be given for work done. You will however be trained in relevant areas and will be exposed to basic information on cetacean physiology, ecology, threats to the animals and what individuals can do to help. You may also gain experience in your field of study as this project encompasses many areas including business, biology, conservation, psycology, education, art…
If you are interested in playing a part in protecting the wildlife of this country and would like to become a volunteer or you would like further information, please contact Alësha Naranjit at cetacean.conservation.tt@gmail.com. If volunteering, remember to include your name and the area(s) in which you would like to volunteer. Please note that you may be able to volunteer in several areas so do feel free to put more than one area (see attachment).
If you are interested in volunteering but are unsure if you can fit this into your schedule do contact us to see if it may be possible. This is an ongoing project which depends on volunteer help and as such will be somewhat flexible in terms of accommodating volunteers.
Be one of the few people privileged to work in whale and dolphin conservation. Help us to learn more about and to protect Trinidad and Tobago’s whales and dolphins. Get first hand experience in conservation activities while using knowledge gained in your field of study
Volunteer now!
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CHARLOTTEVILLE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY REPORT
Tobago Wastewater Disposal System Improvement Program Pilot Project:
Conducted at Collette River in Charlotteville, Tobago
Prepared by Environment TOBAGO
In Small Island Developing States human settlement tend to gravitate and expand along coastal areas. People are inclined to live in these areas because of the various opportunities that exist such as viable fishing and tourist hotspots. However, settlements bring with them a myriad of issues, one of which is the management of domestic waste from land based activities. Where there is unplanned development the challenge is usually linked to social, economic and environmental issues. Waste disposal infrastructure has been proven to be inefficient and unable to deal with human waste.
Sewage disposal has been recognized as a major environmental concern in Tobago , the resulting pollution negatively impacts human health, tourism, coastal fisheries and coral reefs. In a report produced by Environment Tobago in 1999, it was found that samples obtained from the mouth of the Collette River contained faecal coliform (FC) -high of 3,100 per 100 ml). United States Environmental Protection Agency (recreational waters) states that the Logarithmic Mean of FC bacteria counts should not exceed 200 per 100ml, nor should 10% of total samples exceed 400 per 100ml. The conclusions drawn from this survey suggested that such high levels of FC found in the storm drains and street gutters, which all empty into the Collette river indicated that sewage is coming from residential pit latrines and septic tank/soakaways and, at that time, an operational pig farm. [1]
In 2000 Environment Tobago with the support of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Health Division and other agencies conducted the initial part of the Tobago Waste Water Disposal System Improvement Program (TWWDSIP): Pilot Project Charlotteville, Collette River and produced a survey report with their findings. The goal of this program is to “improve sanitation and environmental quality in a rural coastal area by developing and implementing a sustainable waste water disposal system (WWDS) that considers community, economic and technical factors”.[2] Trinidad and Tobago is bound by our international obligation to protect marine ecosystems when the Government of Trinidad and Tobago signed and ratified the Convention for the Protection
and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean ( Cartagena , 1983).[3]
The survey was again conducted by Environment Tobago with the support of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Purpose of the Survey
l determine the sources of household water
l find out the household uses for water
l identify the existing systems which treat both gray and black water in households
l reasonably quantify the volume of effluent leaving each household and entering the river
l identify other possible sources of contamination
l record income and education levels of the residents
l get residents’ thoughts on possible solutions
The number of establishments which drain into the Collette River were 129
Number of establishments interviewed - 95
Survey Analysis and Discussion
The residents of the Collette River region lived in low income houses with 53% living on less than 5000 square feet of land; however a large percentage (86%) owned the houses in which they lived. The majority of the residents have access to pipe born water, received via pipes connected to a dam or well in the village, in both the wet and dry season. At higher elevations there is still a problem of accessibility to a regular supply of water via pipes and some residents are still dependant on water from the rain which they store in tanks or collect water from the nearest standpipe or the river itself. Generally, the uses of water are largely confined to flushing toilets and other household uses. There are no gardens and only 2% of households keep a few animals.
The number of chickens observed roaming in the area is a possible source of pollution by the sheer quantity.
Solid Waste Disposal
100% of the population bag their garbage and utilize the services of garbage collection either at covered bins placed in strategic locations (for areas where garbage truck cannot access) or at their homes. This significantly reduces the chance that significant pollution is a result of leachate produced when garbage is left open to rainfall.
Black Water Disposal
It is encouraging to note that 75% of households dispose of sewage waste using a septic tank and that the majority (71%) also have soakaways. The age of septic tanks ranged from under five years to over twenty years. 56 % of the households indicated that their septic tanks were indeed pumped, however, the frequency of pumping was limited to, in many cases, one time in 15 to 20 years. For those who had never had their septic tanks pumped there was the overriding belief that the tanks were not full. This is a source of pollution:
1) because the contours of the land being so steep runoff in heavy rainfall would not have the time to attenuate and percolate in the soil but would accelerate toward the nearest drains and then eventually drain into the river
2) there is no certainty that the septic tanks and soakaway system were built soundly in the first place and will function properly to degrade and purify sewage
3) the residents do not recognize that there is a sewage problem and therefore maintenance of the systems, as evidenced by their response to having the tanks pumped, is not a priority
Twenty-five percent of the households use pit latrines which are located in very close proximity to either drains or the Collette River itself. The source of pollution arises in cases where the filtration systems have not been correctly built and therefore untreated sewage finds its way either into underground water or terrestrial drainage systems.
Grey Water Disposal
Treatment of grey water in the area surveyed is cause for concern. 98% of the households indicated that their water from laundry, kitchen and bathing flow into roadside canals, untreated. Grey water is most likely the largest source of waste water contamination of the Collette River and the Man-o-War Bay. The crucial consequence of this is the potential damage to the reef ecosystem from nutrient overload. Other areas of concern are the effects on the tourism industry and the vibrant fishing industry, Charlotteville is, after all a fishing village.
The number of vehicles in the area and the washing of these in rivers and the roadside coupled with the frequency of washing is another source of grey water contamination which must be monitored. Further, whether the vehicles are washed near or in the river, at the roadside next to their home or at the fisheries building opposite the bay, the water which will inevitably contain oil residue beside the detergent composition, will be deposited in the bay.
Socio-economic Assessment
It is interesting to note that 70% of the households remain oblivious to the threat of sewage contamination. When asked what can be done to improve the sewage disposal in the area, only 14% offered suggestions, 86% indicated that they “did not know”.
56% of the households surveyed had a primary school level of education.
It is evident that more education is necessary to raise awareness.
59% of the households earn less than $3000.00 per month. This consideration is necessary to determine the affordability of any recommended system.
Recommendations
Domestic wastewater management is a key element for the protection of marine and coastal resources which support communities and can have a number of benefits which include the following:
• Public Health Protection;
• Food Security;
• Biodiversity and Conservation;
• Recreational Value;
• Economic Development
Since domestic wastewater impacts so many areas, it shows that its management cannot be isolated. It must be done within a larger context of Integrated Coastal Zone Management which suggests that the management of human activities must also simultaneously be done.
Based on the analysis and discussion given in the previous section the following are our recommendations:
The individual assessment of existing sewage treatment facilities at every household must be undertaken. This is necessary to determine whether systems are fully functional or not. If necessary malfunctioning systems must be repaired, rebuilt or relocated.
New treatment systems must be assessed and approved before construction and commissioning.
Yearly inspection and monitoring of treatment systems must be put in place.
It is recommended that a geological survey be conducted to determine ground water levels and soil composition, permeability, factors affecting groundwater flow and if in fact pathogens, consistent with sewage contamination, exist in the groundwater.
Grey water disposal is the major challenge and therefore these should be treated using the septic tanks and soakaways with grease trap systems in place.
The sewage treatment system chosen for this area must be one that is affordable to the residents and also the best practicable environmental option.
Finally and probably the most important part of this assessment is the need for an education programme which will raise awareness in this community. There is a blatant need to encourage a behavioural change so that residents can find the link between the protection and conservation of their environment and their social and economic well being.
[1] Tobago Community Water Watch Network: Final Water Quality Survey Report July 1999.
[2] Proposal: Tobago Wastewater Disposal Improvement Program. Environment Tobago : February 2000.
[3] National Policy and Programmes on Wetland Conservation for Trinidad and Tobago , National Wetlands Committee, January 2002.
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Environmental Degradation in Tobago (and Trinidad) – Part 4
A.B. Hilton Clarke
Let us conclude this four-part series of articles on Environmental Degradation by making a few suggestions. We start with the human resource input which with a collective state of positive thinking will improve the physical environmental degradation if we unanimously agree to:
- Subsidize childcare for the working poor.
- Expand the earnable income tax credit bracket.
- Vigorously enforce child support obligations of delinquent irresponsible fathers and parents by appointing retired local and foreign magistrates and judges on contract.
- Insist on a compulsory completion of High School Diplomas. Include ethics conservation, Hindi and Spanish curriculum.
- Raise the academic standards for the labour force.
- Introduce an environment court with emergency powers to retroactively penalize all environmental criminal matters. Justice must be swift because the perpetrator has never been able to distinguish between their own responsibility, their public responsibility or the parameters for other people’s rights.
At present in observing the behaviour of the masses our future seems to be dictated by intellectuals and moral vagrants and any attempt by teachers to correct the potential threat is frowned upon by parents and guardians. The few outstanding role models are ridiculed because they march to higher intellectual and moral drum roll.
Declare a state of emergency for all environmental matters and get foreign help to finance personnel and donate equipment. It is obvious that the end result of our educational systems as practiced today disqualifies the average human animal for honest work. Note that the old Biological chart rightly categorizes living things as animals, plants, viruses and fungi.
Humans have called themselves Homo sapiens, right! That is really hilarious. They even place themselves at the pinnacle of the animal kingdom, much to the mirth and amusement of apes, chimpanzees, baboons and monkeys, thus my use of the word human animal. Most of us seem to be sitting on our collective brains. Why don’t the authorities swallow their collective false prides and seek help from the metropolitan countries at least in the area of environment degradation.
Our forests, rivers, seas, coral reefs, swamps, garbage disposal and pollution, industrial waste all need foreign hands-on help. Along with health inspectors, school psychologists, industrial psychologists, and aptitude tests, continued adult education re T.V., registered day care centres school psychologists, teacher aptitude examinations, compulsory teachers continued education certificates to practice, along with all other professionals using T.V. and retired qualified personnel from foreign countries, all housed in government controlled dormitories supervised by an expanded regimental corps.
At present we seem to have two choices. These are doing nothing or doing something and doing nothing seems to have the choice because it has fewer mistakes. We have to keep reminding politicians that they were not chosen for their good looks. If that were the case hardly any of them would have qualified anyway.
If ethics, honesty, recognition, reward and severe punishment are honestly practiced, not out of resentment, rancour or prejudice, but out of compassion and empathy why is eighty five percent (85%) of the population the victims in our society?
The knowledge that a swift well qualified and equipped, totally honest judicial and legal department is functional dedicated, professional and available is the only foreseeable and recognizable solution, supported by an international criminal court.
Perhaps an environmental criminal court is not far fetched. Will this not address the death of living things, the genocide of plants and animals, the disappearance of the atmospheric layers, in other words, the death of plant earth? Does earth not have an interplanetary pulse?
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ACTIVITIES @ ET
November 14th- Buccoo Reef Management Committee Field Trip.
Meeting at Gibsons Jetty. 10 am. Attending so far, Gian Lalsingh, Pat Turpin and Bertrand
Bhikarry.
November 15th- COPE monthly meeting 5.30 pm.
November 16th.- WASA consultancy on the Development of the Water and Waste
Water Plan- Dwight Yorke Stadium- VIP Lounge- 9 am. Bertrand Bhikarry and Pat Turpin attending.
NPA-Consultation- National Programme of Action for Land based sources of pollution to the Marine Environment- Tobago. November 20th- Mt. Irvine Bay Hotel\
EIA/CEC- COPE Graduation Ceremony- November 24thNormandie Hotel, 11.30 AM. Graduating- Gian Lalsingh, Hema Singh and Bertrand Bhikarry
UNEP/ Workshop to promote environmentally sound Water and Waste Water Provision at the Community Level. Kingston , Jamaica , November 28th and 29th.
Attending , Pat Turpin
Event carded for November 20th- IMA /NPA-
Venue Mt. Irvine Hotel. Time 8am to 1.30pm.
The Tobago Hotel and Tourism First Annual Hotel and Tourism Trade Show
Hilton Tobago Golf & Spa Resort, 27 November, 2007
10 am- 8pm
National Programme of Action for the Protection of the coastal and marine Environment from Land-Based Sources and Activities- Stakeholder’s Consultation
As Secretariat for the Global Programme of Action (GPA), the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) has been charged with the responsibility for facilitating and catalyzing its implementation. UNEP has engaged the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) to develop a National programme of Action (NPA) for Trinidad and Tobago and an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) was appointed by the Cabinet to coordinate the exercise. The United States Department of Commerce, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is collaborating with UNEP in this regard. NOAA has been working with countries in the region utilizing a phased approach involving the assessment of the areas where gaps in management exist.
The NPA is being developed in two phases: Phase One- A comprehensive examination of national issues relating to land-based sources and activities.
Phase two of the NPA will cover the identification of suitable locations or issues for pilot projects in Trinidad & Tobago. UNEP recommends projects selected for implementation have a clear demonstra value, are highly visible or have significant impact on a site or cause of degradation, and are both viable and financially feasible, not implying a large financial outlay.
In Trinidad the Caura/Tacarigua Valley has been considered to be representative of the activities and extent of pollution in Caroni River Basin . In Tobago , however, consideration is being given to the following four projects put forward by stakeholder agencies; the Tobago House of Assembly, Environment TOBAGO, Buccoo Reef Trust and Save Our Sea Turtles:
1) Kilgwyn Swamp Management
2) Tobago Waste Water Disposal System (WWDS) Improvement Programme
3) Water Quality Monitoring- Speyside Marine Park
4) Public Education and Training with Respect to Sediment Management
Each of the projects was assessed against the criteria initially set out. An average of the scores will be computed and the figures will be summed to arrive at the overall ranking for each of the projects and hence, to determine the project receiving the highest score.
Green Globe Company Standard Training Workshop
Green Globe is the global benchmarking, certification and improvement system for sustainable travel and tourism. It is based on Agenda 21 and principles for sustainable development endorsed by 182 Heads of State at the United
Nations Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992. It provides companies, communities and consumers with a path to sustainable travel and tourism. There are now participants in all continents and over 50 countries.
The course provides an in-depth review of the enhanced Green Globe Company Standard as well as the practical dimensions of Benchmarking and Certification. Practical examples of sustainability initiatives and current industry best practices will be illustrated with case studies from around the world. The course will include a field trip to the Asa Wright Nature Centre in Arima, team exercises and group discussions to ensure a focus on the practical application of the enhanced Company Standard. The course is sponsored by the Trinidad & Tobago Tourism Development Company.
Benefits of this Green Globe Training Course
The course will inform and update auditors and participants about the enhanced Green Globe Company Standard and its significance for the travel and tourism sector. It will provide learning opportunities for developing and applying environmental principles and strategies to manage impacts.
The Company Standard Training Course is relevant for:
• Tourism enterprises interested in starting Green Globe programmes, and learning how to navigate the Benchmarking and Certification processes
• Environmental management professionals, travel and tourism staff (e.g. hotels, attractions, restaurants, bars, departments of tourism etc.), and other professional staff (e.g. protected area managers) interested in setting and achieving environmental objectives.
The course is also suitable for industry professionals seeking to obtain Green Globe Company Standard Assessor or Auditor accreditation
