New P3DM begins in Cumana

All were hands on deck for the development of a participatory 3-Dimensional model (P3DM) of the Matura National Park Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA). This was led by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), this project got underway at The AgroTourism Centre, Cumana Village, Toco in early July.   

Students begin tracing contours under guidance of the EMA officers

Students enjoying the model-building

The activity is in support of the Authority’s Education and Outreach Programme in the ESA, and is the third component of a project geared towards promoting the use of public participation in the management of sensitive areas, building public knowledge and understanding of the value of the ESA, documenting existing threats to the site and to gather information that will advise on the best way forward on addressing environmental concerns and inform a communication strategy for the ESA.

The model layers are kept in position by glue and metal poles and are reinforced by nails during construction

River valleys and coastal zone areas appear on the model

Additionally, the modelling also fits well into the into the current national project, “Improving Forest and Protected Area Management in Trinidad and Tobago” currently being coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO) on behalf of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. The Project Coordination Unit of the FAO therefore provided support to the project in assisting with the training of facilitators for the activity and actual facilitation throughout the model-building process.

Click here to read the full report. 

Be a Bush Maco! - Bush Maco Trinidad and Tobago

Recognising that the management of natural resources is hindered by a lack of baseline data, but, knowing the growing level of public interest in the environment in our country, Bush Maco TT was born. Bush Maco TT was created by a volunteer-based team of local ecologists who are passionate about Trinbagonian wildlife. Bush Maco is intended to be a portal for archiving the nature that you as citizens observe.

 

Since Trinis love to maco (for all you non-Trinbagonians, maco means to mind other people’s business i.e. to gossip), what better than to encourage the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago to maco about nature? The vision of Bush Maco TT is to use the power of citizen science to document the natural history of Trinidad and Tobago to better understand the nation's ecological systems and guide decision making.

In this instance, citizen science is where in our day-to-day lives, people who are often regularly in the same area, have the opportunity to make year-round observations of nature in a specific location. There are also many of our citizens are keen hikers, amateur naturalists and hunters, spending countless hours in the bush observing culturally and ecologically important species. So if you have been out and about and seen interesting wildlife or plants, Bush Maco TT wants to hear about it. Everything you document will help better understand our natural history. All your observations of species are important. 

>>Visit the Bush Maco TT website and begin sharing what you see!

>> Check out the article "Become a Bush Macco" in the Trinidad Express Newspapers!