For almost two years since this T&T Guardian series on the environment began, environmental legislation has been anticipated, together with a serious look at the implementation of existing laws. Sadly this seems not to have happened. T&T has had no new environmental legislation for 12 years on a range of issues from recycling to cleaning up the toxic dumps that pass as landfills. This seeming lack of concern over environmental issues was highlighted as recently as July, when thousands of leatherback turtle eggs and hatchlings were crushed when the Ministry of Works' Drainage Division entered the beach with bulldozers to move waterlogged sand from key nesting areas. This is the first in a three-part series addressing concerns about inconsistencies in environmental management at the EMA by conservationists who have been working closely with the authority.
Last May, the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) expended considerable resources in hosting a sea-turtle symposium. This symposium brought together a variety of stakeholders engaged in the research and protection of sea turtles in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean. This followed an amendment to the Fisheries Act, which banned the hunting of all sea turtles, which, with the exception of the giant leatherback turtle, had been allowed in the past. At the symposium, EMA officials reported on the status of sea-turtle conservation in Trinidad and Tobago. It was stated that the EMA was in the process of establishing a network aimed at fostering greater co-ordination between coastal communities, NGOs and government agencies involved in sea-turtle conservation, thereby ensuring better management of its populations and to oversee the implementation of the Sea Turtle Recovery and Action Plan (STRAP). At the time, senior executives of the EMA gave the commitment the EMA would be involved in the formation of the Sea Turtle Network, co-ordinating the meetings of the network and most importantly, designating the five marine turtle species as environmentally sensitive species, under the Environmentally Sensitive Species Rules, 2001.
To date, none of these deliverables have been addressed, especially in the light of the faux pas in managing the situation at Grande Riviere, which resulted in the destruction of an estimated one million sea turtle eggs and subsequent negative international publicity for Trinidad and Tobago. Various views on the apparent failure on the EMA's part to manage the remedial works through the Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) Rules have been highlighted in the media. At the very least the proponent of such works should have been advised to apply for a CEC as part of their designated activities.
The STRAP for Trinidad and Tobago was prepared by the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST) in 2010. According to this report, six sea-turtle species found in the Caribbean Sea are all listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The declaration of some of the country's most important nesting grounds-Fishing Pond and Matura Beach in 1990 and Grande Riviere in 1997-as prohibited areas under the Forests Act, reducing catches at these beaches to nearly zero. It is imperative that the EMA prepares for the designation of the five species of sea turtles that visit the shores of Trinidad and Tobago. This move is critical for the further protection of the species which brings tremendous economic benefit to our country's eco-tourism industry.
There has been no follow-up on any of the deliverables promised since the sea-turtle symposium in May and the process of designating the five marine turtle species as environmentally sensitive species has not yet begun. The EMA has an obligation to honour its commitment to protect sea turtles. It is uncertain why there has been such a delay to establish the network between civil society and governmental agencies involved in sea-turtle conservation that will help to expedite the designation process.
(To be continued)
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