Caribbean Small Technical Grant

Managing Trinidad and Tobago’s Environmentally Sensitive Areas: First assessment of management effectiveness in Aripo Savannas, Matura National Park and Nariva Swamp

Marine Protected Area Terrestrial Protected Area

Management effectiveness

Local Communities

Management Plan- participation Awareness/Education

18.506,25EUR Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean 15 March 2022 - 14 August 2022

Protected and conserved area(s) concerned

Aripo Savannas Strict Nature Reserve- Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) (ASESA), Matura National Park ESA (MNPESA) and Nariva Swamp Managed Resource Protected Area ESA (NSESA)

The BIOPAMA AC Objectives addressed

To identify or update result-oriented priority actions for improved protected and conserved areas ‘management and governance, through new or updated quantified management and governance assessments and their associated enhancement plans.

Priority need addressed

This is the first time an assessment tool has been applied within target protected areas. The complexity and interconnectedness of threats to the Environmentally Sensitive Areas make effective management challenging. The Management Advisory Committees for the protected areas have determined that more informed and data driven management approaches are needed. The assessment will enhance the effectiveness of management through data collection and analysis to identify gaps and elucidate possible opportunities for the achievement of management objectives. Additionally, this assessment which is suitable for replication, will form a baseline so that in future, progress in achieving management objectives can be assessed from a temporal perspective.

The assessment is needed in order to:

– acquire baseline data for each area;

– facilitate the prioritisation of conservation objectives and priority actions; and

– allow the voluntary stakeholder Management Advisory Committees to more effectively manage the protected areas.

Project activities

This project will engage consultants who, for each protected area, will:

• Conduct a METT-4 assessment, through stakeholder engagement exercises and a desktop analysis of available data;

• Develop an action plan, based on the results/recommendations of the METT-4 assessment, which outlines the results of the METT-4 assessment, recommends updated priority actions for the management plan and describes the process for implementing the priority actions;

• Develop a communications plan to share the results of the METT-4 assessment locally and globally.

The change the project implementation will bring for the protected area(s)

The project’s implementation will facilitate the establishment of a framework for a quantitative assessment of the status of the three (3) Environmentally Sensitive Areas, with the aim of improving their management. Outputs from the METT-4 assessments will focus different state bodies and other stakeholders on priority management actions and help develop opportunities for inter-agency cooperation to achieve management goals.

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