By Newsday
IT is with great pleasure that the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists鈥 Club (TTFNC) reintroduces readers of the Newsday to a regular feature produced by the club. Using this space, we intend to highlight the many facets of the natural history of Trinidad and Tobago, including not only our wildlife and geography but also policy issues and historical accounts.
The TTFNC鈥檚 mission is to bring together people interested in the study of natural history, the diffusion of knowledge thereof and the conservation of nature and natural resources. Founded in 1891, the Club operates under a constitution and a set of rules and traditions. As part of The Club鈥檚 100th anniversary celebration, it was incorporated by an Act of Parliament (Act No. 17 of 1991). The Club is also a founding member of the Council of Presidents of the Environment (COPE).
Club activities include monthly lectures from subject experts and regular field trips. Sub-groups within the club engage in additional activities and projects.
Historically, one activity which generated significant interest was the Sea Turtle Project, starting in 1963, in response to reports that turtles were being slaughtered at our beaches, members conducted beach patrols during the nesting season at Matura, Las Cuevas and elsewhere, using the time to also collect data on turtle ecology and capture rates. This information eventually led to the amendment of the sea turtle laws.
Fast forward to present day, bioblitz events are conducted annually as a joint initiative by the TTFNC and UWI, St Augustine with participation by many other organisations. A bioblitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time, usually 24 hours. This year鈥檚 bioblitz will take place in Maracas on September 20-21. All bioblitz events are open to the public.
The club has since pursued its goals of awareness and conservation through education, to which end it produces several publications. The Field Naturalist is a quarterly publication which documents club activities, while Living World is our annual peer-reviewed journal offering research papers and short notes on natural history topics produced by both academic and non-academic authors. Both publications are available online with searchable databases. The club has also published several books and fold-out field guides.
Since the club鈥檚 inception 134 years ago, the natural environment of Trinidad and Tobago has been faced with a multitude of threats, many of which are greater now than ever. Preserving our natural heritage will depend heavily on educating our population on the value of what we have and on the risks that endanger it. It is our hope that this natural history series can help in the realisation of this goal. admin@ttfnc.org
www.ttfnc.org
SQUATTING is a complex problem in Trinidad and Tobago. On one hand you have persons (sometimes innocently, sometimes not so innocently) seeking a place to live and work. On the other hand, land (a limited national resource) is lost to private hands. Resolving some of these squatting sites in a compassionate manner can be tricky. However, there must be a zero-tolerance approach towards squatting in our designated protected areas
The Aripo Savannas, formally the Aripo Savannas (Strict Scientific Strict Nature Reserve) Environmentally Sensitive Area, located between Cumuto and Valencia, is such a place. It was designated as a Prohibited Area in 1987 and as an Environmentally Sensitive Area in 2007. This national treasure consists of just over 4400 acres of natural savannas, palm and marsh forests. It contains the last intact natural savanna in Trinidad, the other natural savannas having been destroyed for 鈥渄evelopment.鈥 The
Aripo Savannas are home to over 457 plant species, with two endemic plant species that are found nowhere else in the world. It is also home to hundreds of animal species including the ocelot, an environmentally sensitive species. Many of these species are specially adapted to live in savanna habitats, and thrive here, such as the iconic moriche palm, the moriche oriole and the red-bellied macaw.
Despite being recognised as a protected area for nearly four decades, squatting continues to eat away at its borders each year.
For example, on the eastern boundary of the Aripo Savannas along the Eastern Main Road, opposite the Guaico Government Primary School, a squatting community continues to expand
(See Figure 1). Based on aerial imagery, land occupation here is estimated to have grown from approximately 19 acres in 2006 to 37 acres in 2025 (that鈥檚 a further 18 acres of protected land which has been destroyed). Squatting in this area was the subject of a recent investigative report by Shaliza Hassanali of Guardian Media Ltd.
This is not the only area impacted by squatting in the protected area. On the Western boundary along the Cumuto Road, another cluster of squatters also continues to expand south of the Aripo River
(See Figure 2). This cluster has grown from 17 acres in 2006 to 27 acres in 2025 (another ten acres of protected land destroyed).
These are just two instances of squatting within the protected area.
The impact of squatting in the Aripo Savannas is not limited to loss of the land that is occupied. Fires set by agricultural squatters often spread uncontrolled into the savannas, destroying more irreplaceable habitat. Poaching of wildlife and extraction of protected plant species routinely occurs. The savannas are also important as a water resource for extraction and supply to households, the quality of which could be impacted in the long run by squatting.
Until recently, the southern boundary of the Aripo Savannas was spared the threat of squatting. However, the construction of the newly-opened Elmina Clarke-Allen Highway has exposed yet another front from which the savanna can be assaulted by squatters. This was one of the key concerns raised when the highway plans were first shared, yet we are not aware of any preventative measures in place to ensure that this border avoids the same fate as the other exposed edges of the savanna.
To this end we urge the government to take swift and decisive action to end squatting in the Aripo Savannas and protect this national treasure once and for all. While compassion is required in dealing with the squatters, the law (Legal Notice No. 152, Vol. 46, No. 138, dated August 17, 2007), must be upheld.