The many benefits provided by the world’s oceans, seas and marine resources are the focus of the first Ocean Conference taking place this week at UN headquarters in New York.
The conference aims to achieve the goals set out in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, including galvanizing action on ocean-related issues such as protecting coral reefs, reducing plastic pollution and addressing the impact of climate change.
Spending time near, in or on the ocean is a major reason why millions of people escape to destinations such as Trinidad and Tobago, an island nation in the southern Caribbean.
The diversity of its people – mostly descendants of enslaved Africans and laborers from India, though indigenous Caribs, Syrians, Lebanese, Chinese and a smattering of other nationalities have added to the gene pool – is reflected in the marine and coastal environments, home and fish, sharks, turtles, manatees, mangroves, seaweeds, coral reefs and numerous invertebrates and other marine organisms.
The ocean is seen as a major tourist attraction in the Caribbean. Supported by the UN, various initiatives are unfolding in the region in order to increase sustainable tourism and better preserve the marine environment.
Neila Bobb Prescott with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the Lead Technical Advisor for a project supporting improved management of the country’s forests and other protected areas, some of which are linked to the sea. She summed up the importance of the ocean in “Trinis”, as the citizens proudly call themselves.
“The oceans are part of what it means to be Trinidadian,” she told UN News. “We have rituals when your child is born. There is a specific time when you take them to the beach to soak their feet in salt water to age them. When you are sick and there is something wrong with you, you go to the sea for a certain purpose and then drink some of the salt water if you have stomach problems. So the sea is part of us in terms of our culture…it’s just part of us.”
Of course, going to the beach to relax is also part of the culture, and citizens and visitors flock to places like Maracas Bay in Trinidad, famous for stands selling “bake and shark,” a fried fish sandwich that can to pass with an infinite set. of fillings. But for serious relaxation, people head to sister island Tobago, a 20-minute flight from the high-octane capital, Port of Spain.
Tourism is the island’s mainstay, employing more than half of its roughly 60,000 residents. John Arnold, Senior Tourism Coordinator at Tobago’s House of Assembly, the local government, said ocean conservation is a given for a destination billed as “clean, green, safe, peaceful.”
While the UN reports that about 20 percent of the world’s coral reefs have been lost and another 20 percent degraded, those in Tobago are still “fairly intact,” according to coral reef ecologist Neil Cook with the Charlotteville Environmental Research Institute. (ERIC). , recipient of a small grant administered through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
A marina in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago. Children taking lessons at the nearby Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association learn how caring for the ocean impacts their sport. Head coach Earl Tobias said he instructs his students to pick up any debris found in the water. Photo: UN/Lulu Gao
World-class diving draws people to the sleepy Speyside village where Sean Robinson opened his first dive shop some 30 years ago. On a recent Saturday afternoon, he was fresh off taking SCUBA enthusiasts into the emerald waters of a site known as the Cathedral, where they were greeted by “a beautiful eagle ray” along with barracuda and stingrays. .
“We’ve been lucky enough here that the quality of the reefs has stayed pretty much the same, but the challenges we’re facing now here in the environment are with this whole concept of global warming,” he said. “Now we are having a problem with something that is very strange, which is sargassum.”
No doubt islanders won’t soon forget the carpet of red sargassum seaweed that littered the Atlantic coast in 2015 and cost millions to clean up.
Sargussum originated in a swirling section of the North Atlantic near Bermuda, known as the Sargasso Sea, first identified by 15th century Portuguese sailors. It has affected other parts of the Caribbean, which is the most tourism-dependent region in the world, according to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Julio Orozco, Director of Sustainable Tourism with the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), a UN partner, is helping governments in 33 countries in the region to tackle seaweed infestation and other challenges.
“Right now, we’re trying to support projects that are taking care of all these problems that we experience throughout the Caribbean basin like sargassum, like coastal erosion, which has been a very difficult problem with climate change,” he said. Mr. Orozco. “Since 2001, the Association has promoted the Sustainable Tourism Area Declaration so that countries, through specific destinations, can implement indicators of sustainability to protect their various resources: not only the sea, of course, but also the fauna . , flora and cultural resources.”
Las Cuevas Beach, located a short drive from Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, is one of 17 beaches across the island nation where leatherback turtles lay their eggs between March and August. For the past five years, rangers have set up camp there during Easter week to educate the public about the need to protect the species. UN/Lulu Gao
On Trinidad’s northeast coast, Stephen McClatchie has called for action to combat a problem affecting his village, Toco, located on the part of the island that is physically closest to Tobago.
As head of the Stakeholders Against Destruction, or SAD, group for Toco, he complained about the long weekend and hordes of vacationers coming to Salybia Bay to hang out, or “lime,” to use the local expression.
“Imagine hundreds of people in a beautiful bathing area without any facilities designed for human needs,” he said. “When collectively this kind of behavior is happening in an area like that, you understand the health risks, the environmental damage, and for years, for decades, we’ve been pleading with the powers that be to do something about it. , but very little or nothing is being done.”
The weekend’s “limestones” also mar the tranquility of Las Cuevas Beach on the other side of Trinidad, which has received water quality certification from Denmark-based environmental group Blue Flag. It is among 17 beaches in Trinidad and Tobago where leatherback turtles, an environmentally sensitive species, come to nest.
Surf instructor Jonathan Torry (right) spends almost every day at Las Cuevas Beach on Trinidad’s north coast. He has seen stingrays, manta rays and a pod of dolphins while surfing. Photo: UN/Lulu Gao
Despite the accolades, veteran surf instructor Jonathan Torry, who is at the beach almost every day, still has to fish the odd beer bottle or other debris out of the sand.
He believes that surfers are simply being aware of the environment and protecting the ocean.
“As surfers, we look forward to being in the ocean all the time. It’s like heaven for us,” he said, the wind and waves drowning out his words. “We cannot exist without the ocean. If we didn’t have the ocean and didn’t keep it clean, for us, life would be very simple, very blah.”
In February this year, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) launched the #CleanSeas campaign to combat marine litter by reducing the production and use of plastic. He warned that if people don’t stop throwing away plastic bottles, bags, cups, straws and other items, by 2050 there could be more plastic in the oceans than fish.
Ocean stewardship is also a by-product of sailing lessons at the Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association, which uses Hart’s Cut Bay in Chaguaramas as a classroom. Students like Luke Frankland, 11, have already understood the main message of SDG 14: life on land affects life underwater.
“I think we should start recycling more and be more conscious of where we put our rubbish when we’re done with it,” he said. “Some people just throw it on the floor when they’re done with it. They should put it in a bin or, better yet, recycle it. It almost always ends up in the ocean. It hurts us in some ways, but it hurts the sea creatures more.”
The Healing with Horses Foundation in Tobago offers a form of alternative therapy for children with disabilities or from troubled homes. Children interact with horses in a “magic park” decorated with affirming messages, a homemade dream catcher and saws made from discarded dining chairs. Best of all, they can ride horses in the cool waters of Buccoo Bay. Photo: UN/Dianne Penn
Life lessons of a different kind are also being taught in the waters at Buccoo Point, Tobago, home of the Healing with Horses Foundation.
There, children with disabilities or from troubled homes develop self-confidence and leadership skills by interacting with 11 rescued ponies, some of whom have their own challenges.
Therapy also includes barefoot horseback riding in nearby Buccoo Bay.
“When we are with the horse in the ocean, the child feels not only carried by the horse, but also carried by the water,” said German Veronika Danzer-La Fortune, who runs the foundation with her Trinidadian husband, Lennox. “Water has a very soothing, calming effect. Water also helps children relax their muscles.”
The Healing with Horses Foundation has found a friend in the United Nations Information Center (UNIC) for the Caribbean area, based in the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain.
In addition to participating in a summer camp in 2016, the UN office has provided the organization with information about UN priority areas such as human rights, disability rights, autism awareness and, of course, , Sustainable Development Goals.
