THOSE who swim, surf, dive and hike around Mount Irvine’s Rocky Point and Back Bay will tell you that this rugged and untamed stretch of Caribbean coast is special, “holy ground,” far beyond the ordinary.
“Beyond the ordinary” is the tagline of the Tobago Tourism Agency (TTA) itself, luring would-be visitors to the sister island with the promise of something much more exciting and refined than just another big hotel on a beach.
Visit Tobago “Where unbroken traditions, unspoiled natural beauty and undiscovered gems come together to create the idyllic Caribbean getaway,” assures TTA.
Their webinar last November said: “Biodiversity is vital to tourism and is a direct draw at the heart of Tobago’s unspoiled nature-based tourism products – such as wildlife viewing, scuba diving or exploring stunning tropical landscapes.”
The NGO Rocky Point Foundation (RPF) is taking TTA at their word by promoting a Rocky Point Heritage Park and Back Bay Nature Reserve, the antithesis of the Marriott plan.
The RPF takes as its starting point the significant American history of the peninsula and the location of Fort Monk, built in 1680.
The Tobago Heritage Conservation Society (THCS) told the Sunday Express about the importance of the heritage site. The fort has coral stone walls in a horseshoe layout, with earthen embankments housing a six-gun battery.
There is a two-story powder room that includes a barrel-vaulted warehouse store with a dressed stone architrave above the door and brick rifle holes detailing American archeological remains.
Historical monument
In 1986 Dr Arie Boomert, an archaeologist and senior research fellow at the UWI, presented a comprehensive report on the archeology of Tobago.
Boomert wrote, “Rocky Point Castle represents the Courlander Castle of the late 17th century, and as such must form the oldest historical monument in all of Trinidad and Tobago, and makes the structure very significant and deserving of serious consideration.”
THCS told the Sunday Express that the developers’ plans “did not make adequate allowance for the preservation of the Fort’s structures in a suitable setting”. They said the site needed “full archaeological recording” and concluded: “The heritage assets at Rocky Point are ‘highly significant’ and as such should be listed, protected and conserved”.
KPZH has applied to the National Fund for the properties to be listed, thus ensuring legal protection.
A replica Amerindian village for Rocky Point is proposed by the RPF, with trails that allow visitors to walk through the village, immersing themselves in a historic culture that once existed there.
“Visitors will be able to take guided tours of the village with trained and knowledgeable guides,” says their website saverockypoint.com
The Rocky Point Museum would encompass the entire history of Tobago, American through settlers and slavery. They schedule archaeological and settler tours, with guided walks to the fort.
At Rocky Point Fort they plan to beautify the area, identify and protect the remaining structures while preserving as much of the natural forest as possible, offering visitors the reward of stunning views.
Back Bay Nature Reserve “will offer a host of eco-activities and attractions that will highlight the unspoiled, unspoiled environment that Back Bay has to offer.” This will include hiking and biking trails, turtle watching and bird watching.
Bird attraction
Faraaz Abdool, a Trinidadian bird photographer and writer who leads birding tours in T&T and abroad, told the Sunday Express Rocky Point contained many species found throughout forested areas on the island. What made it special is that it is one of the most accessible and reliable places to see the blue-backed manakin. The endemic manakin is a major bird attraction.
Park activities would be facilitated through a Back Bay Visitor Center, with trained and knowledgeable staff, RPF says. They also envision a cafe/restaurant at the visitor center. They are looking for corporate sponsors to help them fulfill their overall vision.
Sea turtle conservation NGO SOS Tobago, which with the Forestry Division has been monitoring Back Bay leatherback and hawksbill nesting sites for 20 years, is keen to work with the RPF on turtle ecotourism, educational tours offered.
“Part of the value of Back Bay as a nesting beach and research site is that it is relatively easily accessible and yet there are no artificial lights, no built development,” said SOS founder Tanya Clovis. “Keeping the beach in as natural a state as possible would be key to maintaining its value. We want the entire area to become a park and conservation site, incorporating and highlighting Rocky Point’s rich archaeological, cultural and natural heritage.”
Diversified wealth
But it would not be the first plan for a park there.
In 1998, a $26 million plan for Rocky Point Coastal Park was drawn up by Stanley Beard, adviser to Tobago’s Minister of Development. The project, essentially similar but more ambitious than the KPZ plan, was approved by the Cabinet in 2014. That ministry was closed in 2015 and the project died.
Beard wants the RPF plan to succeed where it failed. “It will serve both resident and visitor populations equally and more sustainably, protecting, preserving and exploiting the diverse wealth of everything this country contributes,” he told the Sunday Express.
“Tobagonians must come together, learn to recognize and appreciate the gifts of nature that abound here in Tobago. Do not hastily part with, trade or give away our God-given inheritance for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver,” he added.
