DR AKILAH STEWART
On April 12, Newsday ran a story headlined Cars parking in Woodford Square again. It detailed the presence of cars parked illegally on the northern side of one of the few green spaces in Port of Spain.
This was not the first time this had happened, as the article highlighted that unauthorised parking had occurred last year, but was subsequently stopped by the authorities. I want to acknowledge Newsday for bringing attention to this issue, and also the authorities’ decision to restrict parking in Woodford Square.
It’s important to recognise the significant historical value of this area, as it served as a burial site for the First Peoples and was also a place where enslaved individuals were flogged and hanged during British colonial rule. This is detailed in a summary on Woodford Square by the National Trust.
I had the opportunity to explore a different aspect of the square in 2022: its biodiversity.
The Trinidad and Tobago Bioblitz took place on December 3-4 of that year. A bioblitz is an intense survey event, in which scientists and nature enthusiasts try to identify as many species of plants, animals and other creatures as possible within a five-km radius in 24 hours.
During bioblitzes, hundreds of species including plants, birds, mammals, and insects are identified by volunteers from all over the country, with contributions from international researchers. Bioblitz gatherings allow people to explore their environment and learn from each other and scientists in various fields.
[caption id="attachment_1090979" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Woodford Square - courtesy Zaynab Abdullah Muhammad[/caption]
Occasionally, new species may be recorded for the first time in that location, or entirely new species may be discovered.
Bioblitzes can also serve as a time stamp of a given area, as our environment continues to be changed by urbanisation.
Bioblitz events occur all around the world. In TT, they have been organised by the Field Naturalists’ Club (TTFNC) and the Department of Life Sciences, UWI, every year since 2012.
They have taken place in locations in Trinidad, such as the northwest Tucker Valley (2012) and the southwest in Icacos (2016), and in Tobago, in Charlotteville (2015) and the Buccoo Reef Marine Protected Area (2023). During the covid19 pandemic lockdown, the event shifted to our own backyards, using the online photo-based biodiversity identification app iNaturalist.
In 2022, the organisers introduced a regional edition called the Inter Island Bioblitz, involving Barbados, TT and Jamaica.
I was in Port of Spain for the 2022 Bioblitz and decided to explore Woodford Square. I observed many species that make it their home, some of which I will share.
Plants were the easiest to observe. There were the big-leaf mahogany or Honduran mahogany trees, a wood plantation species native to the West Indies. Several trunks from previously cut trees were present. I assumed they may have been more than 50 years old; some were larger than my arm span! I also wondered how much
