ERIC receives National Energy Globe Award

The Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville (ERIC) recently was recognised for its contributions to climate change awareness and action with a National Energy Globe Award for Trinidad and Tobago.

ERIC, an active participant on the Climate Change Champions network is also represented on both the Steering Committee and the Tobago Subcommittee for the project "Improving Forest and Protected Area Management in Trinidad and Tobago".  Read more about this special achievement and the presentation of the award at this link.

BRUV surveys yield information on sharks and rays

Typically under-represented by scuba-led surveys, sharks and rays are a conservation priority given their simultaneous ecological and economic value as a living resource. During October 2016 the Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville (www.eric-tobago.org) conducted a series of baited remote underwater video surveys in northeast Tobago to gather data on species and relative abundance of sharks and rays.

Above: Caribbean reef shark recorded on a BRUV (c) ERIC

This data is intended to complement the data gathered by scuba-led underwater visual census of coral reef communities conducted by the University of the West Indies, in order to provide a holistic assessment of the coral reef resources of northeast Tobago and inform emerging conservation management measures under the national IFPAM project.

The Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville has collaborated with Global FinPrint (www.globalfinprint.org) since early 2016 to conduct BRUV surveys of shark and ray populations throughout Tobago, and to contribute to improved conservation management of these keystone species on local, regional and international scales. In order to maximise the awareness and outreach of this project in Tobago, surveys have at various times engaged as participants and observers, members of the ERIC community based field technician team as well as a number of Fisheries Officers.

Read more about the survey at this link.

Natural resource management project for implementation in North-East Tobago

The Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville (ERIC), a member of the Tobago Subcommittee for the “Improving Forest and Protected Area Management in Trinidad and Tobago” project, recently secured grant funding for an 18-month project in North-East Tobago from the UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) Trinidad and Tobago.

Learn more about this project at this link.