PROBLEM STATEMENT

The Environment: Changing land use in Trinidad and its

effects

INTRODUCTION
The main intent of this research is to become aware of the
changing environment in Trinidad and the factors which
affect the change in features of the land and its effects.
Urban development in particular will be looked at. The
causes and effects of urban development on the natural
environment and society at large will be looked at.
Hopefully, at the end of this research citizens will become
more aware of the possible repercussions of changing how
land is used in Trinidad and how it may be possible to
reduce harm to the natural environment while also becoming
modernised and enriching the economy.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
What exactly is meant by land use?
How is land generally used in Trinidad presently?
What was it like some 5-20 years ago?
How has it changed between then and now? Why?
Natural factors versus man- made factors of change
What is urban development?
How do/did these changes affect society positively and
negatively?
How does society affect these changes in land use?
Do these changes affect the eco-system? How?
How can these changes be controlled for the enhancement of
the country as well as the preservation of natural
habitats, flora and fauna and a generally healthy eco-
system?

EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE OF RESEARCH

This research should endow society with knowledge of
changing land features in Trinidad and how it affects them,
as well as how they affect these changes. It should make
land developers more conscious about how their practices
affect the environment. It should educate the public about
the positive and negative effects of the change in land use
and how to deal with the problems which may arise.
DEFINITION OF TECHNICAL TERMS
Land use
 This generally means what is done with land
Natural factors
 Occurrences that happen naturally without the direct
interference of man.

Man-made factors
 Occurrences due to the direct actions of man which
affect the environment.

Seismic
 Of, concerning or caused by earthquakes

Eco-system
 All the plants and animals in a community that
interact with each other and with non-living things in
the region.

Natural habitat
 A place where plants and animals are naturally
inclined to live.
Flora
 The plants in a particular region or period.
Fauna
 The animals in a particular region or from a
particular period.
Urban development
 Development of an area by revitalising buildings,
inviting companies to bring their businesses and to
 foster a city-like environment. It is also the
development of people living in close contact with
close contact in large areas such as cities and towns.

Coastline
 A mapped line of where land and sea meet based on the
highest high tides.

Coast
 The general area that is subject to the influence of
the sea.
LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Sealey, Neil. (1992) Caribbean World: A

Complete Geography (p. 212) Cambridge University Press:
The west coast of Trinidad is most associated with
urban development and industrialisation. This originated
from practice during colonisation where colonisers only
developed the area around the region of the port (Port of
Spain) and the colonising power.
Currently Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad, is
being developed by world standards, i.e. the construction
of many commercial buildings and skyscrapers. With this
development comes the competition for land space. (Port of
Spain is in the north-west of Trinidad)

(p.164) The Point Lisas Industrial Port is located on the

west coast of Trinidad, away from Port of Spain’s
congestion. It is ideal for major industrial development
because of its flat land and waterfront. These features
make it easier for development of a deepwater port which is
economically smart. There are many chemical plants and
petroleum refinery plants which mean competition for land
space.

(p.102) From the passage, conservation is needed to

preserve the natural environment, e.g. forestry, soil and
water. In Trinidad the government owns most of the forestry
land in an effort to conserve resources in the environment.
The Trinidad government also has designated forest reserves
which must remain untouched unless released by an Act of
Parliament. Approximately 10,000 acres of land out of
325,000 acres of forest reserve land have been lost to
agriculture during the last 30 years (from 1992 back). The
remaining state land not protected by law (225,000 acres)
suffers a greater loss (50,000 acres) to agriculture,
logging and construction over the last 20 years (from 1992
back). There are also national parks, nature reserves and
wildlife sanctuaries for the main purposes of education and
recreation.

(p.46-55) A coast is the general area that is subject to

the influence of the sea whereas the coastline is a mapped
line of where land and sea meet based on the highest high
tides e.g. in Trinidad there is a retreating coast formed
by erosion along the north and north-west coast.
The material read in this text gave information about some
land features of Trinidad spanning from a time of
approximately 15 years ago. It provides something to
compare and contrast against the land features today and
also examine the causes of change between then and now.

Boodram, Kim (2008, January 28). Bishop: Tall buildings

absurd ‘Waterfront plans spoiling landscape’.
The Daily Express, pp.10
According to pan maestro and artist Mrs. Pat Bishop the
towers and skyscrapers being erected as a part of the
waterfront development of Port of Spain is absurd. She
claims that the education system is to blame for the lack
of appreciation for the natural local landscape. A fellow
artist, Leroy Clarke, also shared her sentiments. Mrs.
Bishop also emphasised that the coastline has become
distorted by these absurd buildings and block the horizon
from our view and prevents us from knowing that we are an
island. She added that the coastline was one of the things
that would indicate to us whether we are being affected by
global warming or not as the line would begin to close in
on the island. While Mr. Clarke is not opposed to tall
buildings, we are buildings a wall around us so that we can
no longer see the sea.

The above texts give insight as to some of the activities

involving the land of Trinidad. It shares a general idea of
how the topography may change and hopefully causes
inquisitive thinking and concern into why and how these
changes occur.
DATA COLLECTION SOURCES

In order to gain credible and helpful information which may

answer the questions posed in this investigation and retain
relevance to the problem statement, an interview of a
person knowledgeable about the geography of Trinidad and
current events pertaining to changes in land use was
conducted. Also relevant articles and images were sourced
from newspapers and books. Open ended questions posed to
the interviewee were derived from the research questions.
The interviewee also provided valuable insights based on
knowledge and experience that helped to explain why land
use Trinidad is changing.

Articles and images may have provided current information

as well as a visual aid in comparison of changes. Two
questionnaires or surveys, each about a specific region in
Trinidad, were posed to some related individuals, that is,
those who live in or frequent the regions on a regular
basis (purposive sampling). Some individuals were randomly
chosen for the questionnaires (simple random sampling). The
main types of research employed in this project were
historical and descriptive research. Both quantitative and
qualitative studies were done.
PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

Results of Questionnaire 1

1) Age groups of respondants

16-21 years
17%
22-27 years
8% 28-33 years
0% 50% 34-39 years

8% 40-45 years
46-51 years
17%

2) Do you live in this region?

25%

Yes
No

75%

Length of time 'Yes' respondants live in Frequency at which non-resident

the region
respondants frequent the area

0%
22% 11% 5-10 years 33% Everyday
11%
11-15 years Often
16-20 years Sometimes
56% 21+ years 0% 67% Rarely
 3) Doyouunderstandthe term'urban
development'?

No
1 Yes

0% 50% 100%

5) Do you think it was in a similar state

4) Do you think that Trincity is an 10-15 years ago?

urbanised community?

17% 0% 17%
Yes
No
Yes Don't know
17% 83%
No
Maybe
66%

6) How would you describe the region 7) Do you think urban developmnet
from 10-15 years ago? has affected the area positively?

92% 90% 83%

100%
80%
80% 70%
Rural 60% Yes
60%
50%
Urban No
40% 40%
In-betw een 30%
20% 17%
8% 20%
0%
10%
0%
1 0%
1
 8) How do you think it has affected the
environment?

58%
60%
50%
42%
40% Positively
30% Negatively
20% 0% Not at all
Not at all
10% Negatively
0% Positively
1

The results of the questionnaire reflect the general

thoughts of the citizens of Trinidad on this topic. No one
below the age of 16 years or above age 51 participated in
the questionnaire. The majority of the respondents lived in
the Trincity region and environs, the majority of who lived
there for more than 15 years. All respondents clearly
understood urban development. More than half of the
respondents believe that Trincity is an urbanised. More
than half of them agree that it has changed from 10-15
years ago to now. The vast majority believed that the
region was neither completely rural nor urban but that it
was somewhere in-between. Most of them believed that this
development has had a positive effect on the region and
about half of the respondents think that this development
has had positive effect on the environment while most of
the others believe that the effect was a negative one.
 Results of Questionnaire 2

1) Age group of respondants

45% 43%

40%

35% 18-24 years

30% 25-31years
32-38 years
25%
39-45 years
20%
46-52 years
14% 14% 14% 14%
15% 53-59 years

10%

5%
0%
0%
1

2) Do you live inthis region?

71%
No
1
29% Yes

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Length of time for which 'Yes' respondants Frequency with which 'No' respondants frequent
have lived inthe region the region

20% 20%
Everyday
Often
more than 15
years Sometimes
20%
Rarely
40%

100%
 3) Do you understand the term 'urban 4) Do you think urban development of Port of
developm ent? Spain is necessary as the capital of Trinidad?

0%
14% 0%

Yes
Yes
No
No
Maybe

86%

100%

5) Com pare the degree of developm ent in 6) Are you aw are of construction on sw amp
P.O.S. and environs now to 20 years ago. Has land in the construction along the north-
it increased s ignificantly? w es t coast, esp. in the Westm oorings
region?

14%
86%
100%
43% Yes
80%
No Yes
60%
Can't tell No
43% 40% 14%
20%
0%
1

7) Are you aw are of construction on 8) Do you think that there are any
reclaim ed land (m ade by the backing of the reprecussions of construction in these
sea along the coast), esp. along the w est regions?
coas t?

14%
0%
No
1 Yes
Yes
100% No

86%

0% 50% 100% 150%

 9) Do the positive aspects of this urban
development outw eigh the negative?

29%

Yes
No

71%

The results of the questionnaire reflect the general

thoughts of the citizens of Trinidad on this topic. The
respondents were between the ages of 18 years to 59 years
of age. Most of them did not live in the region in question
but frequented the region relatively frequently. Those that
did live in the region did so for over 15 years. All
respondents understood the meaning of urban development and
most of them thought that it was necessary for Port of
Spain to be developed. Beside the minority who couldn’t
tell the difference between the degrees of development from
20 years ago to now, the respondents were equally split on
whether it had increased significantly or not. While the
majority of the respondents knew about construction on
swamp land and all knew about the construction on reclaimed
land and most thought that there would be repercussions to
this construction, believed that the positive aspects of
urban development outweighed the negative aspects.
INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS

From the results gleaned, it was evident that most

individuals agree that urban development is a very
important factor for the country at large.

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

Although there are other factors affecting the change in

the way land is used in Trinidad such as demand for certain
crops on the market in agriculture, the major driving
factor is residential, commercial and industrial
development. This is mainly due to the fact that there is
pressure on the nation to become developed, according to
world standards, because of globalisation. Also, because of
increasing population, the demand for housing is greater.
The increase in population also increases the need for
employment. These factors combined are responsible changes
in land use.

Agriculture in Trinidad accounts for a considerable amount

of land use, both in small scale and large scale farming.
With competition for land space and rich soil, some farmers
look to cultivate crops on mountainous terrain without use
of proper methods (e.g. terracing) and removal deep-rooted
trees which hold soil together, so erosion occurs. This can
in turn cause exposure of water tables and hence loss of
water retention of soil, leading to the drying of rivers
and flash flooding in the valleys.
Also illegal cultivation of crops in swamp lands destroys
the habitats for swamp animals that must then migrate
elsewhere to live or face elimination.

Presently, Trinidad is described as having a ‘construction

boom’, which means that much of the land is being used for
the construction of buildings and industrial plants. As
there is a construction boom there is a very large demand
for building materials. As demands increase, there are
shortages. New means must therefore be employed for its
acquisition. This is how illegal lumbering and quarrying
arises.