The six (6) Pilot Protected Areas (PPAs) were selected for focus in the IFPAMTT project as they represented issues that presented a range of challenges for local protected area management. The profiles of the six areas are presented below.

 

 

Covers an area of 8,340 hectares and is a well-known nature tourism site.

Largely composed of mangrove forests, it is located on the west coast of Trinidad and is at the outflow of the Caroni River which drains one-third of the population of Trinidad on the east-west corridor. Recreational fishing is confined to areas outside of key nesting sites of the Scarlet Ibis a national bird and since 2018, an Environmentally Sensitive Species (ESS) – and there is also a fair amount of oyster and crab harvesting. Small areas of private lands and leased land are located on the eastern boundary alongside the Uriah Butler Highway.

 

 

This site enjoys the accolade of being cited as the oldest declared forest reserve in the Western Hemisphere, having been protected by legal ordinance in 1776. Hunting is permitted in the open season. The site is home to several endemic species including the Environmentally Sensitive Species – the white-tailed sabre-wing hummingbird – and the forest reserve has gained many international awards as a leading ecotourism site over the years.

Several individuals and groups conduct nature tours along trails within the Main Ridge Forest Reserve year-round and there is a growing demand for extraction of non-wood products, such as mud that is used in Carnival celebrations locally and further afield.

 

 

Located in northeast Trinidad, the forest constitutes the Matura National Park Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA); there are private landholdings within the ESA. The coastal zone hugs the east coastline at the villages of Fishing Pond, Vega de Oropouche and Matura which are predominantly agricultural areas. Hunting is not allowed in the ESA, however poaching takes place. In the village of Matelot to the north west of the ESA, agriculture is practise and may encroach into the ESA. Community groups engage in tour guiding in the forest and coastal areas, particularly along trails to the Rio Seco waterfall and tours/patrols on beaches which are seasonally prohibited areas during marine turtle nesting.

 

 

Located south of central on the east coast of Trinidad, the Nariva Swamp spans 11,343 hectares and is the largest freshwater swamp in Trinidad, with an assemblage of six different forest types. This is also an Environmentally Sensitive Area and includes the Bush Bush Wildlife Sanctuary where entry is by permit only. Agriculture is practised by tenanted farmers in the northern portion of the Nariva Swamp at Plum Mitan. Near the eastern coastal zone area there are private landholdings on which farming takes place (south) and at which the only known local habitat of the West Indian manatee is found (north). Nature tourism also takes place in the Swamp and agricultural squatting is known in the area.