Guardians of our Marine Spaces

Uniformly green flat-bottom boats sway lazily on the risen tide, tugging gently at their rope leashes. The brackish murk of a man-made canal laps at the bank where a gaggle of tourists is gathered.

This is the Caroni Bird Sanctuary in Trinidad, perhaps the best known eco-tourism destination in the country. It is also home to the national bird, the scarlet ibis.It’s why these visitors are here, fussing with cameras and backpacks, enveloping themselves in a fog of insect repellent before gingerly boarding open-air boats which will ferry them down a green corridor into the unknown.

The flotilla motors slowly into the swamp, the guides keep a sharp eye out for anything of interest.

“If you look to your left you will see something tangled in that tree. We call it a cascabel. It is a tree dwelling snake.” Just as the guide directs the attention of the excited boat passengers to the coiled snake, a flock of scarlet ibis flies over a gap in the mangrove growth.

Scarlet Ibis returning to roost in the Caroni Swamp

“And if you look up quickly you will see our national bird.” Everyone’s eyes are now skyward, eager hands fumble at cameras and binoculars and a chorus of oohs and aahs rises from the tour party. As they look back down, something else in the swamp catches their attention, trapped in the tangle of mangrove roots, it’s….what can it be?

Pollution in the Caroni Swamp

Closer inspection uncloaks the mystery, the rusted carcass of an old washing machine. A hush falls on the boat, puzzled looks work their way across the faces of the visitors. The boats drift slowly past a majestic blue heron perched atop a Dell computer monitor.

These travellers came from far and wide to venture into the Caroni Swamp. There are countless wonderful things to see in this diverse habitat. The image that will probably be shared the most, however, is that picture of a bird…standing on a computer…in a swamp. Not an ideal postcard, given that the Caroni Bird Sanctuary is billed as one of the most important eco-tourism sites in Trinidad and Tobago.

Thankfully, that sort of imagery is increasingly rare today in this treasured wetland. The advent of the CEPEP Marine programme has dramatically changed the appearance of the swamp.

At the crack of dawn each morning, CEPEP crews arrive for the daily routine of combing the swamp for society’s waste. At the end of each day, roughly 60 to 80 bags of garbage are collected. That is quite the haul. From discarded fans to microwaves, you name it, they find it.

A CEPEP Marine crew offloads their haul for the day

Protecting wetlands and coastlines

Recognizing the urgent need to remove these pollutants from riverine and coastal environments, CEPEP Marine was born. Crews scour the coastline for waste of every imaginable size and shape; from the Western Peninsula all the way down to South Trinidad, the scope of this programme is vast. 

Contractors average a monthly tally of 6,000 bags of garbage. In fact, since the programme started in 2012, 210,000 bags of garbage have been collected by CEPEP Marine teams. Now that is a staggering statistic!

The benefits of CEPEP Marine, widely felt in many communities across the country, are perhaps best reflected in the Caroni Bird Sanctuary.

A day’s worth of work in the Caroni Swamp

The appropriate disposal of garbage will involve a process of education over time to change inherited bad habits. In the meantime, CEPEP marine delivers a consistent, invaluable service where no other agency, public or private, dares to tread.

In the Caroni Swamp and elsewhere in Trinidad, the importance of this ground-breaking initiative is undeniable.