By IPS Correspondents
PORT OF SPAIN, Apr 8 1997 (IPS)

Illegal logging and some forms of agriculture are taking a heavy toll on Trinidad and Tobago’s forest reserves and wildlife and have raised serious concerns about the country’s budding eco-tourism industry.

Environmentalist, Ian Cross, a senior officer in the country’s Coast Guard, describes such activities as “ruthless” and he has led the effort of a new group, Watchdogs for the Environment (WE), to monitor the situation more closely and to publicise it more widely.

Already, for the year, it has been estimated that illegal logging has netted those involved more than 175,000 dollars in teak production alone. Losses from other trees can reach in the vicinity of 600,000 dollars.

Forestry officials claim that between 12 and 15 teak fields, or about four hectares, have already been lost in south Trinidad forests. They blame illegal loggers and farmers clearing lands for agricultural purposes for this depletion.

Conservationists believe that over the past 15 years, close to 500 hectares of natural forests have been destroyed for sugar cane cultivation in the south while a growing amount is being lost in the island’s more expansive north because of the illegal logging industry.

Sheriff Faizool, a conservation coordinator with the country’s Forestry Division, says that the felling of teak trees in southern reserve areas is proceeding at such a rapid rate that it currently outstrips the replanting capabilities of the Division.

Along the island’s northern mountain range, weekend hikers have reported evidence of massive logging activities with highly- equipped, well-organised crews participating in the destruction of several hectares of trees at a time.

The leader of one hiking organisation reports that when he asked a member of one logging crew on what authority they were cutting the trees down he was told that the forest “belongs to nobody”.

It is the kind of attitude Cross says he wants to deal with. There is, as well, he says, “disappointment and frustration that no action is being taken by government agencies and a perceived impotence on the part of persons who report such events, that they are helpless to do anything about this fatal and relentless decimation of our forests.”

Meanwhile, at least one major nature trail along Trinidad’s northern mountain range, the Paria Beach Trail, has been completely destroyed.

The trees are felled, dragged through the forest to the sea and taken by small vessels to various sawmills in the island.

For years, hikers and environmentalists fought attempts to cut a road to the scenic beach on Trinidad’s north coast. The loggers have seemingly settled that question once and for all.

Public Utilities Minister Ganga Singh, a long-time friend of the environmentalist movement, says he is very concerned. He thinks the police and other enforcers of environmental laws should step in.

“I make an urgent plea to law enforcement officers and environmental organisations dedicated to the preservation and protection of our environment to take urgent steps to end such callous activity,” he said.

The illegal loggers are however not likely to feel particularly threatened. Illegal logging, under the country’s forestry laws, carries a combined maximum penalty way below the profits being generated by such activity. A single charge can invoke a fine of under 100 dollars.

Logging and the transportation of logs require special permits and sawmills are supposed to maintain detailed records, but forestry officials complain of a lack of resources to adequately police the rules.

The hunters are also complaining. President of the South Eastern Hunters’ Association, Mohan Bholasingh, says the wildlife of the forests are under serious threat and he is among a group of hunters who have begun their own programme of re-afforestation by planting fruit trees where timber-producing trees once stood.

The Trinidad and Tobago-based Caribbean Conservation Association (CFCA), headed by former Government Minister Eden Shand, has been granted approval to plan and manage three eco-tourism parks, but there are fears the loggers may get there ahead of the Association.

“The sooner the plans (to establish the parks) are approved and implemented the better,” Shand told IPS.

Cross meanwhile believes there should be a redeployment of available resources while the laws are updated.

He suggests that the country’s army and Coast Guard should set up camp in selected areas and systematically monitor proceedings, particularly along the northern range.

“This in itself is a good training and security exercise for our military personnel,” says Cross. He also believes it will assist law-enforcement officials in their fight against the drug trade and illegal trawling.

The CFCA has meanwhile proposed to the country’s Environment Management Authority (EMA) that a special boat currently used to patrol beaches protected during the turtle nesting season should now be used during the day to monitor the transportation of logs by sea.

“Illegal logging is now at the point where it can get out of control,” one forestry official says. Like everyone else, he believes a menu of options can be employed including tougher legislation, higher fines and an increase in the number of forestry officials charged with keeping a close eye on what is happening to the country’s forests.

Cross’s new group has added to that a concentrated publicity programme to both inform public opinion and to expose the people who, they say, are trying their best to destroy, forever, some of the most beautiful areas of natural life in the country.

Excerpt:

By IPS Correspondents
PORT OF SPAIN, Apr 8 1997 (IPS)

Illegal logging and some forms of agriculture are taking a heavy toll on Trinidad and Tobago’s forest reserves and wildlife and have raised serious concerns about the country’s budding eco-tourism industry.

Environmentalist, Ian Cross, a senior officer in the country’s Coast Guard, describes such activities as “ruthless” and he has led the effort of a new group, Watchdogs for the Environment (WE), to monitor the situation more closely and to publicise it more widely.

Already, for the year, it has been estimated that illegal logging has netted those involved more than 175,000 dollars in teak production alone. Losses from other trees can reach in the vicinity of 600,000 dollars.

Forestry officials claim that between 12 and 15 teak fields, or about four hectares, have already been lost in south Trinidad forests. They blame illegal loggers and farmers clearing lands for agricultural purposes for this depletion.

Conservationists believe that over the past 15 years, close to 500 hectares of natural forests have been destroyed for sugar cane cultivation in the south while a growing amount is being lost in the island’s more expansive north because of the illegal logging industry.

Sheriff Faizool, a conservation coordinator with the country’s Forestry Division, says that the felling of teak trees in southern reserve areas is proceeding at such a rapid rate that it currently outstrips the replanting capabilities of the Division.

Along the island’s northern mountain range, weekend hikers have reported evidence of massive logging activities with highly- equipped, well-organised crews participating in the destruction of several hectares of trees at a time.

The leader of one hiking organisation reports that when he asked a member of one logging crew on what authority they were cutting the trees down he was told that the forest “belongs to nobody”.

It is the kind of attitude Cross says he wants to deal with. There is, as well, he says, “disappointment and frustration that no action is being taken by government agencies and a perceived impotence on the part of persons who report such events, that they are helpless to do anything about this fatal and relentless decimation of our forests.”

Meanwhile, at least one major nature trail along Trinidad’s northern mountain range, the Paria Beach Trail, has been completely destroyed.

The trees are felled, dragged through the forest to the sea and taken by small vessels to various sawmills in the island.

For years, hikers and environmentalists fought attempts to cut a road to the scenic beach on Trinidad’s north coast. The loggers have seemingly settled that question once and for all.

Public Utilities Minister Ganga Singh, a long-time friend of the environmentalist movement, says he is very concerned. He thinks the police and other enforcers of environmental laws should step in.

“I make an urgent plea to law enforcement officers and environmental organisations dedicated to the preservation and protection of our environment to take urgent steps to end such callous activity,” he said.

The illegal loggers are however not likely to feel particularly threatened. Illegal logging, under the country’s forestry laws, carries a combined maximum penalty way below the profits being generated by such activity. A single charge can invoke a fine of under 100 dollars.

Logging and the transportation of logs require special permits and sawmills are supposed to maintain detailed records, but forestry officials complain of a lack of resources to adequately police the rules.

The hunters are also complaining. President of the South Eastern Hunters’ Association, Mohan Bholasingh, says the wildlife of the forests are under serious threat and he is among a group of hunters who have begun their own programme of re-afforestation by planting fruit trees where timber-producing trees once stood.

The Trinidad and Tobago-based Caribbean Conservation Association (CFCA), headed by former Government Minister Eden Shand, has been granted approval to plan and manage three eco-tourism parks, but there are fears the loggers may get there ahead of the Association.

“The sooner the plans (to establish the parks) are approved and implemented the better,” Shand told IPS.

Cross meanwhile believes there should be a redeployment of available resources while the laws are updated.

He suggests that the country’s army and Coast Guard should set up camp in selected areas and systematically monitor proceedings, particularly along the northern range.

“This in itself is a good training and security exercise for our military personnel,” says Cross. He also believes it will assist law-enforcement officials in their fight against the drug trade and illegal trawling.

The CFCA has meanwhile proposed to the country’s Environment Management Authority (EMA) that a special boat currently used to patrol beaches protected during the turtle nesting season should now be used during the day to monitor the transportation of logs by sea.

“Illegal logging is now at the point where it can get out of control,” one forestry official says. Like everyone else, he believes a menu of options can be employed including tougher legislation, higher fines and an increase in the number of forestry officials charged with keeping a close eye on what is happening to the country’s forests.

Cross’s new group has added to that a concentrated publicity programme to both inform public opinion and to expose the people who, they say, are trying their best to destroy, forever, some of the most beautiful areas of natural life in the country.

Excerpt: