Aripo Savannas Strict Nature Reserve - Environmental Management ...

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Administrative Record discusses the reasons and issues involved in the proposed action of designating
Aripo Savannas as an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) under the Environmentally Sensitive Areas Rules,
2001.
The administrative record is designed to demonstrate the process and justification for the selection of Aripo
Savannas as an Environmentally Sensitive Area, and to share this information with the public of Trinidad and
Tobago, while soliciting their input and contributions.
The significance of Aripo Savannas and its biodiversity has been recognised for many years as part of the
larger Long Stretch Forest Reserve declared in 1934, as a proposed Scientific Reserve in 1980, and as a
Prohibited Area in 1987.
Aripo Savannas is the largest remaining natural savannah in the country, fanning out from the foothills of the
Northern Range as old alluvial terraces. These terraces consist of layers of sands, gravels and clays that have
been mined locally for the construction industry.
The Aripo Savannas has an international reputation for its unusual flora in striking vegetation communities. It is
one of the more intensively studied areas of natural ecosystems in Trinidad. The ten open savannah
communities characterise the ‘savannas’ which have low growing herbaceous vegetation caused by an
impervious hardpan layer a few centimetres below the soil surface.
The complex of habitats making up the Aripo Savannas Strict Nature Reserve possess characteristics not seen
else where in the country coupled with the high density of rare, threatened and endemic species, the ecosystem
can be considered as unique. Of the 457 species identified so far 38 are restricted to the Aripo Savannas with
between16 and 20 that are rare or threatened, and 2 endemic floral species.
The Environmentally Sensitive Areas Rules of 2001, seeks to award protection to areas of Trinidad and Tobago
that contain threatened and remarkable representations of this country’s biodiversity. Criteria laid down in the
ESA Rules guide the selection and justification of the areas to be declared. A copy of the ESA Rules 2001 is in
Appendix 1.
The intention of the Environmentally Sensitive Species Rules, 2001, (ESS) is to provide added protection to
certain species. The ESA and ESS Rules are complementary, and intended to support conservation efforts
throughout Trinidad and Tobago.
EMA: The Administrative Record for the Designation of Aripo Savannas as an Environmentally Sensitive Area