A key strategy in the Forest and Protected Area Policy (2011) is participatory management. One of the mechanisms being employed under the Improving Forest and Protected Area Management (IFPAM) Project is the use of Subcommittees for each site. The Subcommittees are made up of key stakeholders for each pilot site. They will advise the Project Steering Committee (PCU) on actions specific to matters pertaining to their respective pilot protected area (PA) site and advise the Project Coordinating Unit on general management directions and on technical matters related to their respective pilot PA site.
The
first meeting of the Trinity Hills and eastern extension pilot PA Subcommittee
was convened on 24th August, 2015 at the Forestry Division’s Rio Claro
office. Organisations serving on this
Subcommittee include Forestry Division, The Petroleum
Company of Trinidad and Tobago (Petrotrin), Trinidad
and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club, the Environmental Management Authority and
the South Eastern Hunters Association.
At the first meeting, it was evident that
this mechanism of using Subcommittees would contribute to improving
coordination of management actions and
sharing of information. For this
Subcommittee, its first meeting resulted in the formulation of objectives and initiated
discussions to select actions to implement for the next year in the pilot PA.
Subcommittee members
listening as the PCU facilitates a session detailing the context for management
in the PA
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Dr. David Persaud, Environmental Manager - EPPD, shares the rationale for the boundaries of the PA with Subcommittee members. |