Wonderful surprise for STC delegates

Over a dozen delegates and journalists on a study tour at STC-14 were treated to a rare sight Wednesday – a leatherback sea turtle nesting during broad daylight.

Just after midday, the group arrived at Grand Riviere, a stretch of shoreline along Trinidad’s north coast; and members were told during a 30-minute briefing that they would not see the nesting process as the turtles come ashore during the night.

However, on arrival on the beach a leatherback was spotted in the final stages of the nesting process.

Grande Riviere is Trinidad’s most nest-intensive beach during the laying season of sea turtles, including the critically endangered leatherback, and is the third most prolific site in the world. The nesting season runs from May to September every year.

The group was given a guided tour by members of the Grande Riviere Nature Tour Guide Association (GRNTGA) - a non-profit, community based organisation, specializing in turtle protection, environmental conservation, awareness and eco-tourism within the beautiful village of Grande Riviere and environs.

Leatherbacks, the largest sea turtle, can grow to almost 10 feet and weigh 2000 pounds and GRNTGA – a thriving eco-tourism project, is involved in protecting the animals on land from persons who would poke, ride or sometimes kill them.

The country won three of the six awards at the awards ceremony at STC-14 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

The Caribbean Excellence in Sustainable Tourism Award was won by Guyana’s Karanambu Lodge Inc.,  an eco-tourist destination providing guests with the opportunity to experience the wildlife of Karanambu.

The Puerto Rico Tourism Company copped the Destination Stewardship Award with Conservation International Guyana receiving special mention in this category. Guadeloupe’s AQUARIUM de la Guadeloupe; Aruba’s Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort; and Sandals Resorts International were also commended in this category.

Winner of the Sustainable Accommodation Award was Tryall Club and Villas in Jamaica where members and guests enjoy the beauty of nature in its many forms: from lush hillsides and vibrant seascapes to abundant plant life and local species. Almost Paradise Cottages and Restaurant in Grenada; Community and Tourism Services Ltd., Guyana; and Accra Beach Hotel and Spa in Barbados received special mention.

The Community Benefit Award was won by Bowden Pen Farmers’ Association in Jamaica, a community based organization in the Upper Rio Grande Valley in the eastern parish of St. Thomas with a membership of 27 persons who are divided in two livelihood streams - agriculture and tourism. Guyana’s Aranaputa Community Based Tourism and The Bahamas Cape Eleuthera Island School were also highly commended.

National Trust of Guyana took home the Heritage Protection Award for its work in preserving and promoting the nation's patrimony so that the present and future generations will access and enjoy the richness of Guyana's heritage. The National Art Gallery and Educulture Bahamas Ltd. both of The Bahamas were also recognised in this category.

The Biodiversity Award went to the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society with the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust; Atlantis Paradise Island in The Bahamas and the Association Evasion Tropicale Guadeloupe all receiving special mention in the category.

In 2012, Guyana won the Caribbean Excellence in Sustainable Tourism Award, the Community Benefit Award and the Biodiversity Conservation Award.  

The submissions were judged by an esteemed panel of tourism specialists - Ena Harvey, the hemispheric specialist  for agro tourism at the  Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA); Seleni Matus, the senior advisor on destinations at Sustainable Travel International and Gail Henry, the CTO's sustainable tourism product specialist. 

Rural tourism sustainable, say experts

Rural tourism can be sustainable and economically beneficial, growing whole communities and creating jobs while showcasing and preserving the rich culture and flora and fauna.

That’s the consensus of two Trinidad-born tourism experts, who spoke on Thursday morning at the final day of the STC-14 in Trinidad & Tobago.

Suzan Lakhan-Baptiste and Ena Harvey shared practical examples of their successes and offered a model for other countries and communities to adopt.

Lakhan-Baptiste, who represents Nature Seekers Incorporated, a group which patrols Matura Beach on the east coast of Trinidad, shared that they not only work to preserve the safety of leather back turtles which nest on the beach between March and August, but also use the trash found on the beach and turn it into cash.

“Every year we gather huge tons of glass bottles which we into cash by melting the glass and remaking it into jewellery and reselling it,” she disclosed. “It’s the only such programme in the Caribbean like this and it creates several jobs for community residents.”

Additionally, residents can work as tour guides, or open their homes to host visitors among other niche jobs.

Harvey said the agro-tourism model, which her agency, the Inter American Institutes for Cooperation  On Agriculture, promotes, partners with the Brasso Seco project in Trinidad to integrate agriculture into tourism.

At Brasso Seco, visitors can stay with a family, have authentic cuisine and visit the local plantations that produce coffee and cocoa  or simply bird watch, hike or tour the waterfalls and rivers. All aspects of this create jobs and the money spent by the experimental visitors stays in the community to help its future development.