The Trini Environmentalist

Last week we touched on invasive species in Trinidad and Tobago and many readers asked about the Giant African Snail. What do they do? How to get rid of it? Do they contact the authorities? This and more will be answered in our final article of the year. The origin: The Giant African Snail was first sighted in East Africa, specifically in Kenya and Tanzania. It is a highly invasive species and a disastrous pest in the world of agriculture. This snail eats over 500 species of plants and is a vector for diseases such as rat lungworm which is a parasite. Once contracted this parasite can cause meningitis. According to the government of Trinidad and Tobago, Giant African Snails were deliberately introduced to the Caribbean in the 1980s. It was first sighted in Trinidad in October of 2008. At first, the snails were contained in the Diego Martin area but eventually spread through the entire North-West portion of the island. Recently, sightings of these snails have been reported far Eas...

What are Invasive Species? In Trinidad and Tobago, we are fortunate to have vast biodiversity, ranging from South America and the Windward Caribbean. According to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, we have 172 invasive species with over 100 of them being plants, but these are only the documented ones. There are many more that probably have not been identified yet. What exactly is an invasive species? An invasive species, as defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2021), “is an organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native”. These species consist of flora and fauna that would have been brought into our country from foreign regions. Figure 1: showing an invasion of Giant African Snails (FAO 2021) How do foreign species get into Trinidad and Tobago? In many cases of species invasion, the flora and fauna are accidentally introduced into the wild. Many years ago, before airport regulations became very stric...

  What issues have arisen in Trinidad and Tobago due to Climate Change? In Trinidad and Tobago, we are blessed to be located at the southern end of the Caribbean Archipelago. Our islands are sheltered from the terrible hurricanes and storms that develop in the Atlantic. However, this does not protect us from the dreadful effects of Climate Change. Problems such as unpredictable/extreme weather, coastal erosion, coral bleaching, and many more affect our shores. Figure 1: Showing Climate Change comparison (ITU 2021) How do these problems arise from Climate Change? Unpredictable weather is caused by the warming of our oceans. The Atlantic Ocean is the harbour of all storms while the storms develop, they “feed off” of the heat of the ocean waters. This aids in increasing wind speeds thereby increasing the intensity and frequency of storms (tropical storms and hurricanes). Climate Change does not only affect rainfall which results in devastating floods, it affects droughts too whic...