T&T is blessed with abundant biodiversity and spectacular natural beauty. Trinidad is the untapped eco-tourism destination of the Caribbean. This vision is incongruous with rampant poaching and degradation of the natural environment. Lawlessness, destruction of habitat and poaching is so accepted in T&T that it appears that even the police can get away with wildlife crimes. This has a direct and negative impact on the islands' abilities to develop a tourism product.
T&T is special. Where else in the world can you see hummingbirds, red howler monkeys, manatees, scarlet ibis and leatherback turtles in a 24-hour period?
Trinidad's small size, and English language, is its competitive edge over far bigger ecotourism rivals, where you have to travel great distances to do the same things and struggle with language barriers.
Tobago offers stunning beaches and reefs. It is the perfect place to unwind.
Natural advantages mean nothing when humans pose such a threat to wildlife that they are exterminated, flee, or have their habitat annihilated.Nature gave T&T all it needs to thrive, what humans are doing to it is a different story altogether.
A December 2015 ecotourism excursion into the Bush Bush Wildlife Sanctuary (declared a prohibited area by Dr Keith Rowley in 1989, when he was Minister of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources) revealed an unexpected absence of red howler monkeys.
Red Howlers are the star attraction in this wildlife refuge. It is the one place where you can practically guarantee a sighting.They are Trinidad's noisiest jungle dwellers. During this trip though, we heard nothing, and we searched for a long time without finding red howlers. What we did find, however, was a hunting scaffold.
Our guide explained that poachers enter the sanctuary and shoot animals. Whether or not they were hunting red howlers was unclear, but he said that the shotgun blasts would scare away the monkeys.The tourists who paid to come on this excursion were disappointed and shocked.
Eventually, after an extended search, we found several uncharacteristically quiet red howlers. The tourists were able to make several good photos of them, but they also left Trinidad with the knowledge that poachers endanger the very animals they had come to see.
T&T's image takes a hit with each of these incidents. It is a shame. We have so much to be proud of and so much natural splendor to show the world. And so much money to make doing so.Use of technology, such as motion-activated game cameras, could capture evidence of poachers in the sanctuary.
They can be bought for as little as US$39.95 online.Increased game warden numbers and 24-hour patrols will scare off any poacher.The investment is the difference between a thriving ecotourism product that earns the country foreign exchange and cowering wildlife.
In October 2015, a photo was posted to social media of a protected anteater, locally known as a matapal, being barbecued.A screen shot was made, which was a good thing, because the poster must have had second thoughts about publicising proof of the killing of a protected animal.
Within minutes the photo was removed. Smart move, because his social media profile also indicates that he is a police officer who lives in Rio Claro.I passed on the photo evidence to several people in authority and then decided to just wait and see what would happen.
Let's see how the system works. To date, there has been no mention in the media of a police officer being questioned about the killing of a protected anteater.I have since asked the T&T Guardian to open an investigation into this poaching incident to find out if the matter was ever investigated, dealt with in a court of law and reported to the media.
There cannot be one law for police officers and another law for the rest of us.Several reports have been made of a police vehicle being used by poachers to kill red howler monkeys in the Mount Tamana and Biche areas.Mount Tamana, and its fascinating bat cave, has been the subject of documentaries. Red howlers can often be heard on the walk to the cave.
Killing these protected animals kills our tourism product. It is distressing that allegations are made that police officers are involved.
Most recently a much-respected guide reported that on the steep road to the Brigand Hill Lighthouse, in a forest reserve, a red howler was shot and wounded. The monkey fled in to the forest, where it will probably die a slow and painful death.
The guide mentioned that Brigand Hill had a thriving red howler population that he would show to tourists, but numbers have declined due to poaching.Questions must be raised about how illegal quarrying can happen right under the nose of police officers, especially in the Sangre Grande to Matura area.
Illegal quarrying has annihilated habitat, destroyed water aquifers and resulted in lawlessness in affected communities.Illegal quarrying earns organised crime hundreds of millions of dollars, money that could easily be used to "look the other way."The war on nature must be stopped if T&T's tourism product is to thrive.