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...
Coral Reefs and COP-26: Coral Bleaching Alert in Tobago
: Coral bleaching has been observed in Pillar corals found in the shallow areas of Buccoo and Plymouth Reefs. Photo courtesy Lanya Fanovich, Environmental Research Institute of Charlotteville...
Massive Sargassum Influx on Caribbean Shorelines linked to Climate Change: Hazard or Hope
By Dr. Rahanna Juman, Director (Ag.) and Wetlands Ecologist For yet another year, massive quantities of Sargassum are seen washing up along Caribbean coasts. This unprecedented, massive, episodic influxes of floating sargassum seaweed on coastlines was first observed in 2011 and has had significant negative impacts, particularly on coastal communities and livelihoods, public health, tourism and fisheries (UNEP 2021). This issue therefore represents an emerging hazard for a region that is already subject to numerous hazards and indeed, various countries in the Caribbean have declared national states of emergency with respect to sargassum influxes (Desrochers et al. 2020). This new source of sargassum is likely...