Situational Assessment

Current estimates show that approximately 40% of Trinidad's land space is under vegetation of varying quality and that approximately 22% of the land space is natural vegetation. Internationally it is generally accepted that every country on the planet should conserve at the very minimum 20% of its land space. Estimates show that if Trinidad is to continue to supply water for all the nation's needs that over 25% of the land space should be under natural vegetation and over 45% should have vegetation of some sort. Current data also shows that in order to have a healthy Ocelot population that can be sustained there must a minimum of 35% land space that is covered with vegetation suitable as habitat for feeding and reproduction. Though this is at best just a guess.

In Trinidad the Ocelot's habitat varies widely; basically it requires a forest with a canopy that supplies it with food, resting places and suitable sites for mating and reproduction. This is supplied by all of Trinidad's natural forests and areas such as abandoned citrus, cocoa or coffee estates and cocoa estates that have many large trees in it. These natural forests and agricultural areas with a canopy continue to be denuded at an alarming rate. Fire is the leading cause of deforestation. The forestry division estimates over 46,000 hectares have been burnt over the last five years, yet they have reforested just under 200 hectares. These fires are all lit by man, either unintentionally through the wanton discarding of lit cigarettes, improperly outing campfires, or intentionally through slash and burn farming. Other serious causes of deforestation include logging or clearing of land for uses such as industry and housing. Current statistics also show that the temperature of the seas around Trinidad and Tobago have risen a significant amount during the last five years.

Global warming has been clearly liked to deforestation in two significant ways. The smoke from forest fires contribute to the destruction of the ozone layer, which is the earth's protective layer. Once the extra heat is allowed in by the eroded layer, then the heat is trapped by the smoke itself. Also the trees within rainforest ecosystems themselves have a cooling effect on the region around it by trapping moisture under the canopy. Again if this is lost the area becomes warmer. Hence with the rate of destruction of our forests it is easy to see why our seas are warming.

This loss of forests also adds other problems within Trinidad and Tobago. Weather patterns over the last five years show that the islands are getting drier and drier, which is starting to have a deleterious effect on the Ocelot's habitats by throwing the ecosystems out of balance, along with creating water shortages within the society. Rainforests regulate the flow of water through their system. The loss of rainforests on steep hillsides means that flood water that in the past would have spent hours percolating through the rainforest now rush over the land in just a few minutes. This is coupled with the fact that these off balance weather patterns now have a tendency to heavier than normal rain when it does come. This phenomenon has meant that all these waters reach low lying areas at the same time, thus floods have gotten more frequent and severe, costing huge sums of money and worse, the loss of human and animal life.

In short Trinidad is at a critical stage in its conservation efforts. Strong, enforceable and popular conservation measures must be put into place as soon as is possible that are popularly supported by rural communities. However, this is not the current reality, true conservation projects are few and far between. Though it must be said that general awareness in Trinidad is certainly on the rise. If you ask the average Trinidadian if conservation was needed the majority would say yes without hesitation, nonetheless the majority of Trinidadians use too much plastic, most litter and many will destroy nature without a qualm. Thus, they do not see a link between themselves and conservation. However twenty years ago only a minority of the populace even gave a little thought to conservation matters, hence there has be progress but it is not nearly what is required.

The Government fairs no better. There is a Ministry of the Environment, an Environmental Management Authority, Institute of Marine Affairs and Forestry Division but none have the political clout or legal backing required to be effective. Many Ministries have environmental laws or requirements but little attention is paid to them. While in general public workers seem to be more interested in other matters than conservation, I have found many dedicated environmentalists working in many parts of government giving some hope.

It is clear that continuing the change in attitude is a prerequisite for effective conservation to be implemented in Trinidad and Tobago. This must be coupled with private and public organizations doing their part towards getting large tracts of land declared as conservation areas, National Parks, Wildlife Reserves, Scientific Reserves and the like. Also farmers must do their bit to ensure that they practice environmentally sound farming such as not using harsh chemicals and leaving areas with large tress to form a canopy.

This will be only achieved by working with these Government Organizations, Business, NGOs, CBOs and schools to support eachother and through conservation oriented educational programmes and advocacy.

If you wish to assist us in our effort in conserving the Ocelot by changing the above situation please contact Courtenay Rooks at rooks@pariasprings.com.