During the second term of the 2024/2025 Academic Year, Cari-Bois partnered with the Scotiabank Foundation to empower ten (10) students with climate journalism skills as part of the third edition of Cari-Bois’ Youth Journalism Project. For their third assignment, students wrote an article about the effects of climate change on biodiversity. This story was written by Amelia Puttin of Brazil Secondary School.
Trinidad and Tobago is home to a wide variety of biodiversity, like Tobago’s coral reefs and Trinidad’s Caroni Swamp.
Both ecosystems rely on certain environmental conditions in order to strive and flourish.
These conditions include specific temperatures, sunlight and water quality.
But climate change now threatens the existence of these beautiful ecosystems as environmental conditions change and affect the balance in these ecosystems, which can make them become more unfavourable for maintaining life.
Buccoo Reef
Located in Buccoo, Tobago, the Buccoo Reef is a popular tourist attraction.
This reef is home to an estimated 119 species of fish and an abundance of corals, including the “Dead Man’s Finger”, brain corals and staghorn corals.
In the Buccoo Reef, you can also find stingrays and shellfish like lobsters and clams.
But while the reef is teeming with life, recent observations have shown that corals are dying due to coral bleaching.
Coral bleaching is a result of climate change, which causes the sea water to be warmer than usual.
This change in temperature stresses the corals, which causes them to release the algae (zooxanthellae) that lives in their tissues.
When this algae is released, the corals die and leave a white skeletal structure.
With corals providing shelter and food to many organisms within this ecosystem, like the parrot fish and shellfish, many of these organisms die or leave when corals bleach, which can collapse reefs and disrupt their wellbeing.
Caroni Swamp
The Caroni Swamp is an ideal bird watching destination as it contains over 150 species of birds including; Trinidad and Tobago’s national bird, the Scarlet Ibis, monkeys, the Anteater, Capybaras, raccoons, oysters, clams and many species of fish.
But due to the rising sea levels caused by the effects of climate change, the swamp is now experiencing saltwater intrusion.
This excess salt water now creates an imbalance in the water quality which causes some species to migrate, some to adapt and others to die.
Plants in the swamp are also affected by saltwater intrusion, and some die because of the high concentration of saltwater.
Heavy rains due to climate change are another threat presented to the swamp.
Over the past several years, the swamp has experienced noticeable levels of erosion which have resulted in mangrove loss.
This development is concerning, as the mangrove is home to countless organisms that depend on them for life.
The wellbeing of Trinidad and Tobago’s biodiversity relies heavily on the country’s ability to slow the acceleration of climate change.
A very special thank you to the Scotiabank Foundation for supporting the development of young people through initiatives like the Cari-Bois Youth Journalism Project.
