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Environmentally Sensitive Areas in the Context of World Habitat Day
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT, is the United
Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to
promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of
providing adequate shelter for all. UN-HABITAT commemorates World Habitat Day
annually, on the first Monday in October.
The EMA has drafted the Environmentally Sensitive Areas Rules, 2001. This piece of
legislation will ensure the protection of habitats, not only for the value of their respective
flora and fauna, but also for the important role that these play in sustaining human
livelihoods.
In this regard, the Aripo Savannas, Matura and the Nariva Swamp will soon be
designated under the Environmentally Sensitive Areas Rules, 2001. The following gives a
brief background on the environmental importance of these areas and, by extension, their
importance as habitats for the communities they serve:
MATURA
Matura includes the Rio Seco/Salybia watershed on the south, the Shark and Grande
Riviere watersheds in the north and State lands of the Eastern Northern Range. The area
is 8,200 hectares. There are many scenic rivers with a number of falls and cascades. It is
one of the most accessible areas for both freshwater and seawater bathing.
Matura lies within the area of the Northern Range that has unbroken, continuous virgin
forest cover which is rare for the Caribbean islands. The area also exhibits the most
outstanding representation of Mora forest (Mora excelsa) remaining in the country. Such
forests are exceedingly rare to the tropics. (Tropical rainforests usually have great
diversities of tree species but this is not apparent in the Mora forests.)
This largely pristine area provides excellent habitat for wildlife, including some locally
rare and endangered species, notably the pawi and ocelot, and its rivers contain relict
South American fish fauna. (Kenny, J. 1997: Views from the Ridge)
Unfortunately, the area suffers threats from squatting, illegal logging, over hunting and
poaching, unmanaged and uncontrolled tourism development and forest fires.
The proposed Matura National Park would provide opportunities for environmental
education, research, interpretation and recreation. In addition, the area can facilitate better
understanding of forest ecology and biological resources in Trinidad.
ARIPO SAVANNAS
The Aripo Savannas are located in North Central Trinidad between Arima and Sangre
Grande and to the east of the Caroni Plains within the Long Stretch Forest Reserve. It is
the largest remaining natural savanna in the country.
The Aripo Savannas have an international reputation for their unusual flora in striking
vegetation communities. It is one of the more intensively studied areas of natural
ecosystems in Trinidad. Of the 457 species of flora and fauna identified so far, 31 are
endemic to the Aripo Savannas with 16 to 20 that are rare or threatened. The 10 open
savanna communities characterise the ‘savannas’ which have low growing herbaceous
vegetation caused by an impervious hardpan layer, that is, an underlying soil layer
through which water does not flow, a few centimetres below the soil surface.
Lack of nutrients in the soil creates a stressful environment for the plants that have
adapted survival mechanisms such as trapping insects and nematodes as food. The
hardpan prevents larger plants from establishing themselves except as isolated individuals
and in larger pockets where the palm marsh communities have become established.
The area has been subjected to various human activities including quarrying, logging,
poaching, fires, establishment of pine plantations, residential and agricultural squatting,
railway and road construction and drainage channels. This has resulted in loss of rare and
threatened species due to modification of habitats resulting from human activities.
In 1987, the area was declared prohibited under the Forests Act (Legal Notice # 113 of
1987). The 1,800 hectares of savanna are State-owned.
NARIVA
The Nariva Swamp covers an area of approximately 6,000 hectares and comprises State
lands, including the Bush Bush Wildlife Sanctuary, part of the Ortoire Nariva Windbelt
Forest Reserve and the proposed Nariva National Park.
Nariva is one of the largest freshwater wetlands in the Caribbean and has the most varied
vegetation of all wetlands in Trinidad and Tobago. It is especially important for large
numbers of waterfowl and for being the main site still sustaining populations of anaconda
(Eunectes murinus) and manatee (Trichechus manatus). It supports considerable
populations of molluscs and crustaceans, and several species of fish live and reproduce in
the area.
The Nariva Swamp was declared a forest reserve in 1954 and formally designated a
“Wetland of International Importance” in 1992 under the Ramsar Convention.
Nariva has faced severe threats from illegal farming, particularly illegal rice farming. The
forests bordering Nariva were once rich with a variety of birds and monkeys, namely the
Blue and Gold Macaw and the Red Howler Monkey. The birds have, however, been
removed from the forest for the local pet trade and monkeys are becoming rare because
more and more of the forest is being infringed upon by human development.
There is therefore need for this wetland to become a designated Environmentally
Sensitive Area so that its resources could be used wisely in keeping with the mandate of
the Ramsar Convention.
Illegal logging in Matura