When I think about the state of sustainability and change in Trinidad and Tobago, the future seems far away and there’s a lot of work to be done to change the environment but still there’s hope. Talking and working with Greener Futures this semester, I learned about some of the small and large scale environmental problems that are being faced. Some of the problems that have really affected my community have been bush fires, trash and litter and a lack of a comprehensive recycling center to process many everyday recyclables like single-use plastic, glass, and metals. Also, something that faces the country is that the continued development of more forested and bushy areas, especially in Tobago, Southern and Eastern Trinidad, has been leading to the reduction of wildlife and flora that depend on these forested areas in the face of the tourism industry and more land needed to create things like hotels and such.

I wanted to continue this work into my summer in Trinidad and work with an NGO called Fondes Amandes Community Restoration Project that has been working in Trinidad in response to bushfires and reforestation. Community awareness of environmental practices is very important which is why with Greener Futures at UWI, we did a day of tabling and disseminating information to avoid common practices that worsen bushfires and environmental impact. The legislation that I’ve learned that would be really helpful for Trinidad and Tobago would be creating and developing bush fire policies for the Trinidad & Tobago government, as they are one of the few major Caribbean countries without one. They also work with indigenous and maroon sovereignty, with the goal of producing policies that would make environmental practices of indigenous peoples easier for all. In terms of climate change of politics, they is still very surface level in terms of parties climbing for power, and they often use it as virtue signaling. There are many civil organizations and NGOs and companies that want to create better futures and do good work, but politically there is still not a significant enough emphasis on it in terms of tangible action.