New signage installed at protected areas

Main Sign located at Salybia-Matura Trace, Salybia Village

November 13th 2019 marked a significant day in the "Improving Forest and Protected Area Management in Trinidad and Tobago" project, with the unveiling of new signage at a protected area.  The Matura National Park Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) was the first of five pilot protected areas of focus in the project to be bestowed with these simple yet significant features, which are intended to aid in building awareness and valuing of protected areas.

Educational sign located at Orosco Road, Matura Village

The ceremony to unveil these signs took place at a main entryway to the ESA, at the corner of the Salybia-Matura Trace and Toco Main Road in the village of Salybia.  Senator the Hon. Clarence Rambharat, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries and Mr. Reuben Robertson, Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization for Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname took part in the unveiling ceremony after addressing a small gathering of about 60 persons; several members of the surrounding community were present at the ceremony.

Boundary sign located at Salybia

A total of 30 signs will be mounted around the ESA, with some of these located within the communities that surround the site.  In 2016, a survey of persons living in these communities revealed that persons who lived outside the village of Matura had little or no connection with the Park that has "Matura" in its name.  As a result of this, stakeholders on the Project Subcommittee associated with the site decided that apart from boundary-demarcating signs, information signs that highlight key assets of the Park should be mounted in neighbouring communities, headlined with the words "In Your Neighbourhood" to stimulate a closer connection with the protected area.

Similar signage exercises are expected to take place around four more protected areas in the coming months with the intent of building interest, knowledge and appreciation of the value of these sites.

KAP surveys soon to get underway

In 2016-2017, the Improving Forest and Protected Area Management in Trinidad and Tobago project undertook a series of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices surveys in communities surrounding six protected areas of the project's focus.  The data gathered in these surveys, supplied information about people's knowledge and interaction or lack therefore with these protected areas, and advised communication plans for the six sites.

Now, towards the end of this four-year project, these surveys are being repeated, to determine whether areas of positive feedback are sustained and if areas of lack of awareness or knowledge have improved.  The surveys are preceded by training/re-training of enumerators in a series of training workshops, the first of which took place in the village of Plum Mitan today. 

Surveys will begin in communities surrounding the Nariva Swamp, Trinity Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and Tobago's NE marine area and Main Ridge Forest Reserve next week.

Surveys in communities surrounding Caroni Swamp and Matura National Park will begin on 25 November 2019.

Two-day Flood Modelling Workshop

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO/UN) is coordinating a two-day training exercise in flood modelling on Tuesday 30^th – Wednesday 31^st October, 2019.  The workshop is a component of the four-year project “Improving Forest and Protected Area Management in Trinidad and Tobago” which the FAO is implementing on behalf of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

This workshop activity will enable participants – including staff of the Drainage Division, Ministry of Works and Transport and the Division of Infrastructure, Quarries and Environment, THA – to become familiar with aspects of the hydrology of catchments and their influence on receiving floodplains.  The focus of the workshop will be on the development of design storms and the application of techniques for generating streamflow hydrographs emanating from catchments.

This workshop sets the stage for a follow-up session in early November in which participants can understand how the streamflow hydrographs flowing onto a floodplain may cause flooding.  It will explore the capabilities and limitations of a popular two-dimensional hydrodynamic model and how it can be used for performing hydraulic analyses for evaluating the suitability of flood control measures.  The model’s capability for producing flood hazard maps will also be covered.

The workshop is linked to a current feasibility study being undertaken in the project to identify possible options for improving freshwater input into the mangrove swamp forest of the Caroni Swamp.  If a feasible option is identified, improved freshwater flow to the Swamp may also provide an associated solution to reduce or mitigate flood challenges in surrounding areas.