2.13 - Trinidad and Tobago

Question 1

What type of island is Trinidad + Tobago?

Answer 1

SIDS
Small Island Developing State

Question 2

How much SLR does it experience per year?

Answer 2

0.06m/year

Question 3

What percentage of the population live or work on the coast?

Answer 3

70%

Question 4

Why do the east coast beaches have the highest erosion rates?

Answer 4

• NE-SW wind = southerly LSD erodes sediment along east coast

COCO BAY and GUAYAGUAYARE BAY

Question 5

Why is Guayaguayare bay a vital site for T+T?

Answer 5

• Vital site for oil industry - main source of GDP and exports (40% GDP, 80% exports)

Question 6

What economic losses have T+T experienced/potential economic losses?

Answer 6

• Manzanillo beach flood 2014 - 300m major access road destroyed
• Many luxury beachfront homes valued £700K+
• Rising eco-tourism industry threatened - 400,000 tourists last year

Question 7

What are the social losses in T+T?

Answer 7

• Loss of coconut plantations, watermelon and vegetable cash crops (dominate east coast) - risk to farmers’ livelihoods
• Manzanillo flood = transport/access severely affected (commuters couldnt access oil/tourism industries)
• Value of luxury coastal property likely to fall over time = cost of relocation + break up of community
• Potential damage to existing hotel + tourist industry (aesthetics)
• Social tensions created by individual management attempts upstream which block LSD (starved of sediment further downstream)

Question 8

What are the environmental losses in T+T?

Answer 8

• Leatherback turtles’ nesting sites endangered along N+E coast - threat to eco-tourism too
• 16,00 acre Wildlife Sanctuary + Reserve on S coast has lots of flora, fauna = threat to ecosystem

BUT ecosystems are thought to adapt to small incremental changes of coastal erosion so impact may be smaller