Cutting trees to make a first world township

‘yuh living in Tobago too long boy!’ my friends always say, when I speak about the futile routines I endure in the Quixotic chores of environmental advocacy. However this time my rant will not concern itself about specifics – Let’s talk about who places a higher value on the quality of their life. Is it the Trinidadian or is it the laid back small islander, the Tobagonian?

The feed for this was actually derived from a slew of conversations I’m having with my colleague Andre, a Tobago son who has interest in such things. We were passing the time of day gearing up for Andre’s Single Wicket Cricket promotion, and the strategizing led to questions about civility, civilization, sophistication and culture.

True these are broad topics, but we were looking into why cricket can still draw a large following in the countries East of Greenwich , but yet not concern the North Americans, whom we strive to emulate more than any other society. In fact we would mimic most things American, yet eschew a lot of it when sports, namely cricket and soccer come knocking. Why is this ?

Obviously (to me anyway) the roots of our history are well and firmly set. Take cricket. We like the formality of the game, we like the pavilion atmosphere, the clubhouse rules, and maybe too, the vague shadow of cucumber sandwiches and tea. So on the face of it, our islanders are civilized, sophisticated even in the Old Word sense, to the point they can resist North American pressure in their choice of sport.

Would that they would exercise their choice a bit more. Andre divulged that Tobago has lost scores of its best brains from his peer group to the lure of the metropole or to the bigger sister isle. Obviously they were in search of a better life. Indeed he insists that the phenomenon is an old one, a common occurrence for decades. On the flip side; Why do Trinidadians come to Tobago, again they must be in search of a the better life. Even our resident group of expatriate villa owners and single female parent to mulatto kids also seem to expect their time here as being better spent than in their home country. Go figure.

Yet the group who must be heeded are the patriots, sons and daughters of the soil who love their island to the point they would stay and make a life even as they remain aware some aspects of personal progress may be lost. This group of unsung heroes give up the bigger pay cheques as well as a first world lifestyle to be where they ‘belong’ .

However love for the country seems to be inadequate. Our society’s inability to fix problems (like fetid swampland made worse by dumping ) is usually the common gripe for environmentalists who write long boring rants on the topic. That someone would write 500 words on the same topic year after year certainly questions his intelligence, or the sanity of his readership.

So even though the old problems are yet to be attended to, there are new problems on the Tobago horizon however and it affects the ’stay at homes’ almost as much as if they were the culprits. In a bizarre twist, the ones who left these shores are coming home, clearing lands and building homes. Not a bad thing, admirable even. But it’s at the detriment to the tree cover in this small island. From the current pace of deforestation it s easy to foretell we are playing foolishly with our water supply at the very least, and our food security at some point .

Several generations of resident Tobagonians have been exposed in some form or the other to knowledge espousing the value of trees and their impact on the availability of fresh water in the system. In fact the educated nationals are now in positions of responsibility, power even. We would hope they will ensure this island stays pristine or as close to that ideal. It’s not a priority on the list of local values though, not that anyone could see.

Almost every patch of wooded land has been cleared, or is marked for clearing in Tobago, except maybe the much touted ‘oldest protected rainforest in the world’ as is proudly but wrongfully declared. The hardwiring, our urge to improve our quality of life may once more be the cause, but the negative effect of ‘progress’ is yet to be felt. The unborn Tobagonian may also one day boast of his protected rainforest, but he’ll be paying big bucks for fresh water in the meantime.

We must be careful before we give in to the wishes of our returning brethren, we must remain aware that their values may have become more in sync with a lifestyle we eschewed years ago. Indeed we must be confident in our choices, and maintain the quality we prefer. It’s not a time to live and let live, but a time to work actively to preserve the little island. The slow ball is not a good choice now. The inertia with which we approach positive change is the real issue it would seem , and not the issues to which we pay lip service.