IMA Presents 45th Commemorative Anthology Publication to the UWI Alma Jordan Library
The Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) presented fifteen (15) copies of its most recent publication titled, ‘Turning the Tide – Fostering Conservation and Sustainable Development: A 45th Anniversary Commemorative Anthology 1992-2023’ to The Alma Jordan Library at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus on September 26, 2023. Unveiled at a book launch on May 26, 2023, to mark the 45th corporate anniversary of the IMA at a Long Service Awards, the publication was edited by then Director (Ag.) Dr. Rahanna Juman and library staff and sponsored by Republic Bank. Exploring the challenges and issues that impact our oceans, coasts and marine resources,...
Tides Are Changing
By Ruqayyah Thompson, Research Officer. International days are a powerful advocacy tool used to raise awareness on matters of public concern, garner political support and resources to address global problems as well as to celebrate humanity’s achievements. This month, we join with the global community to recognise World Oceans Day on June 8th under the theme, “Planet Ocean: Tides Are Changing”. The ocean covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface and forms 95% of the biosphere, the part of the Earth where life exists. It produces at least 50% of the world’s oxygen and is a main source of protein for over a billion people. The...
From agreement to action, build back Biodiversity
By: Mr. Attish Kanhai, Benthic Ecologist, Institute of Marine Affairs. “All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun”, French filmmaker Jean Luc-Godard was quoted as saying. Well, actually he was quoting someone else while making this quote, another filmmaker D.W. Griffith. The implication here is that action and romance keep us glued to our screens, the gun of course representing action and the girl romance Give the girl and the gun then we’re in for a doubly good time I suppose. But I digress. Action movies take it one step further by introducing big explosions, things burning and who doesn’t...
The BBNJ Agreement – a win for the Ocean and Multilateralism
By Dr. Kahlil Hassanali, Senior Research Officer, Institute of Marine Affairs “The ship has reached the shore.” This was how Her Excellency Rena Lee, Ambassador of Singapore and President of the Intergovernmental Conference relating to an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (The BBNJ Agreement), announced that delegations had finally agreed on a treaty text. After nearly twenty years of talks on the matter, five years in an Intergovernmental Conference setting, two weeks into the resumed fifth session of that Conference, and thirty-eight hours over the scheduled deadline during which time delegates bunkered...
Recognising the Importance of Our Seagrass Meadows
March 1, 2023 marks the first-ever United Nations recognised World Seagrass Day. The day is being commemorated to raise public awareness on the importance of seagrass meadows and to recognise the importance of seagrasses to the health and well-being of the planet, as well as to the people, communities, flora and fauna that rely on them. Seagrasses are marine flowering plants that grow in the intertidal and subtidal zones along shallow tropical and temperate coasts. They are very productive, faunally rich and ecologically important marine resources that provide nursery habitats for several commercially important species such as conch, fish and lobster and a major food source...
Blue Carbon is no reason to feel blue
Have you ever described yourself or someone else as “feeling blue”? In that case you are using a phrase coined from a custom among many old deepwater sailing ships. If the ship lost the captain or any of the officers during its voyage, she would fly blue flags and have a blue band painted along her entire hull when returning to homeport. I would like to think that this is true because it perfectly fits my narrative but given that the internet source was quite dubious it probably isn’t. Another source indicated that the use of the colour blue to mean sadness goes all the...
What does an oasis and a coral reef have in common?
No, this is not the start of a bad joke or a riddle (although the obvious answer is probably water) but have you ever wondered how oases occur in the desert? How can these areas flush with trees and shrubs, teeming with life occur in the barren arid desert environments? If you haven’t, then take a moment to ponder, try it. It is probably not what you think. While there are many different factors that give rise to the creation of desert oases, one of them might be very surprising. It begins with organisms not visible to the naked eye. Microbes in Israel’s Negev desert...
The Marine Resilience Initiative, Tobago (Pilot Project)
Tobago waters are rich in marine biodiversity, home to unique and interconnected ecosystems, such as the Buccoo coral reef - Bon Accord Lagoon Complex made up of seagrass and mangroves. Most of Tobago’s Caribbean coast is fringed by coral reefs extending to the northeast Tobago, UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve. For over ten years, the Institute of Marine Affairs has been monitoring the health of coral reefs and seagrasses around Tobago. Unfortunately, we have observed several disturbance events have affected Tobago’s marine ecosystems resulting in significant mortality / dieback of critical coral reefs and seagrass beds. Coral reef monitoring conducted by IMA has...
Taking time to appreciate our Mangrove Forests
Our coastlines, especially the Gulf of Paria, were once lined with large trees with entangled roots beaming with wildlife, where our grandfathers and fathers hunted crabs to put in the Sunday callaloo, and for oysters sold in spicy sauce around the Queen Parks Savannah. Back then we did not fully understand he importance of these coastal forests, so as much as 50 % were cleared to build houses, businesses and ports. What are you talking about, you may ask? It’s our mangrove forests. Mangrove forests are spectacular and prolific ecosystems that are usually located on the boundary between land and sea. Mangrove trees are salt-tolerant trees, also called...
A view from the hill: The impacts of sedimentation on the coastal environment
If you have the opportunity to go to San Fernando Hill or the Lady Young Road in Port of Spain, you can have an unobstructed panoramic view of the Gulf of Paria and its environs. Viewing the coast from these vantage points gives you another perspective of human impacts on the coastal environment. Our impact is very evident after heavy rainfall when you look out only to see a large brown plume of sediment moving across the blue waters. Sediment is washed down from hillsides and plains into drains and rivers, eventually reaching the sea. The magnitude of these plumes is unknown for the...
- 1
- 2