Source:  KRIS SOOKDEO  Trinidad and Tobago Newsday
​If you have been very observant over the last couple of weeks you may have noticed an interesting and noteworthy natural occurrence. All over the country, during the occasional breaks in the otherwise persistent rains, you may have seen what at first appears to be large black butterflies flying about. If you took the time to look a bit closer and you might have even realised that it is quite an attractive “butterfly” and perhaps you wondered why you never noticed them before. But these are not butterflies and their presence all over is not an everyday occurrence.
It would surprise many readers to know that these stunning creatures are actually moths. It is the day-flying moth Urania leilus, known locally as the white-tailed page or white-tailed urania. “But moths are ugly little brown things that come out at night” –you might be thinking. While there are many drab brown moths, there are also many stunningly beautiful ones. And some, like our subject today, are only active during the day.
The white-tailed page is predominantly dark black, but it is marked by extraordinary green metallic bands that glitter in the sunlight. Each wing also bears a single white tail that is quite obvious as it flies by. Movement itself is relatively slow and the moths just seem to drift about wherever the wind might be taking them. Occasionally they will alight to feed on the nectar of small flowers.
The white-tailed page inhabits forested areas, and appears to be particularly common in south and central Trinidad. Incidentally, the word “page” (pronounced “pah-shge”) was historically used locally to refer to any large lepidopteran. Like many lepidopterans, its distribution is intimately linked to its food plant. All “bush” is not the same in the eyes of these insects and the caterpillars of butterflies and moths often feed exclusively on plants belonging to a certain family. In the case of the white-tailed page, their caterpillars are only known to feed upon plants of the genus Omphalea of which there are four species in TT. Perhaps the most well-known species is the Hunterman’s Nut, Omphalea diandra (so named because if a hunter consumes the seed he/she will allegedly gain the stamina to run down any agouti. Conversely, if the agouti eats the seed, then the hunter might as well go home).
So why does it seem that these forest-dwelling moths are suddenly all over the country? This is because Urania leilus populations are prone to periodic mass movements. Over the years, several observers including the late Victor Quesnel, have documented similar movements, and from this a pattern emerges that suggests these events take place every three to four years. These movements have all been documented within TT but it is possible that our moths also cross the Gulf of Paria to Venezuela
Why then does this happen? Unfortunately, there is no conclusive answer for this riddle.
Overcrowding is one possible cause and there are several documented cases of eruptions and subsequent mass movement of different species of lepidoptera from across the globe. In many of these cases, there would have been an environmental event which triggered above-average growth of certain plant species or reduced predator pressure. As a result, a large number of eggs are laid and/or caterpillars survive to adulthood. As the requirements of the adults now exceed the capacity of the immediate area, they are inclined to move to new areas.
At least one study in another part of the moth’s range has provided another possible explanation. Surprisingly, it suggests that the mass movements may be driven a chemical response in the Omphalea plants on which the caterpillars feed.
As you might imagine, the Omphalea vines are under constant siege by marauding Urania caterpillars. But the Omphalea have a countermeasure at their disposal –they are able to react to grazing by producing toxins that can discourage or even kill caterpillars. The plants, however, only initiate this response after three or four consecutive years of being attacked. Thus, it would seem that the Urania moth population of a given area is forced to emigrate every three or four years in order to locate “fresh” Omphalea on which to lay their eggs, resulting on the mass movements that we observe. Whether this is the main reason or just a contributing factor for the emigrations is yet to be determined.
Obviously further observation and study is needed to determine the reason for these Urania movements in TT.
Regardless of the cause, the periodic mass movements of the white-tailed page are a joy to behold and provide a good opportunity for both naturalists and non-naturalists alike to observe this species outside of their typical forest homes. They are good reminders of just how complex our natural ecosystems can be, with the existence of one species depending on another. This is precisely why it is so important to preserve our natural environment – losing even a little can have unexpected and unwanted consequences.
For more info on our natural environment contact the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club at admin@ttfnc.org or visit our website at www.ttfnc.org and Facebook or YouTube pages.

​Come Sunday night, Trinidad and Tobago will be put on the world stage yet again, this time in BBC’s documentary series Blue Planet II.
The Blue Planet series explores the world’s oceans and the life that exists within them.
In a Facebook post, the BBC released a clip from this coming Sunday night’s episode showing renowned broadcaster Sir David Attenborough along the beach in Grand Riviere, one of the ”densest leatherback turtle nesting beaches in the world.”
Attenborough profiles the challenges faced by the leatherback turtle, particularly due to hunting. He introduces Len Peters, a local who, despite growing up in a community where eating turtle meat was considered normal, began working in the area to educate the younger generation around the importance of conservation of the endangered creature.
You also see snippets of Peters’ educational and conservation work as the Chairman of the Grande Riviere Nature Tour Guide Association.
The episode description says, “In the Caribbean, a community is reversing the fortune of giant leatherback turtles. Their numbers have dropped dramatically, by up to 90 percent in some parts of the world, but here, volunteers are risking their lives to get turtle poachers to put down their weapons and instead protect the beach where these magnificent creatures nest. Through these valiant efforts, theirs is now one of the densest leatherback nesting beaches in the world.”
This episode, titled “Our Blue Planet” is the seventh in the series.
Source:  The Loop, December 9, 2017.

Sunday, December 10, 2017
Shoppers come to Port-of-Spain for the best bargains, however they have to navigate a gauntlet of wreckers, pickpockets, purse and chain snatchers, vagrants, clogged streets and pavements occupied by street vendors to get to the stores.
When it rains the city floods and commuters heading in or out are stuck for hours in traffic gridlock.
The killing and unsolved case of bank employee Shannon Banfield a year ago in the nation’s capital also make many women feel unsafe to venture into the city to do their shopping.
Many of the capital’s businesses have in-house cameras since robberies and shoplifting are prevalent. The security measures such as heavy steel doors are from hard lessons learned from the fire and looting of the July 27, 1990, attempted coup.
Heading into the Christmas season the business owners encounter a perennial problem with delivery trucks unable to park to offload goods because of the street vendors. This is compounded by delivery trucks being wrecked by the police.
And those are two of the reasons why close to 18 businesses have closed on Charlotte Street in the last 36 months and have been replaced by casinos, President of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) Gregory Aboud said.
Aboud said “Many of those in authority including successive governments are in denial and unwilling to accept that the city of Port-of-Spain is being hammered and battered into worse and worse conditions.
“There is no understanding among those who have the responsibility to protect the city’s interest about the real connections between business prosperity and the life of a city. They somehow have the impression that the city will persist and survive even in the face of the exodus of major business interests.”
The first issue is parking, Aboud said. “While the business community is now trying to respond to incentives given by the Ministry of Finance in the interim, while private multi-level parking is being installed, the police wrecker is voraciously feeding on the carcass of Port-of-Spain.”
He said the wreckers operating out of Sea Lots’ mobile Traffic Branch had stripped Abercromby Street above Independence Square of business. Aboud said Abercromby Street was their first port of call before accessing the rest of the city even though there was no signage of parking restrictions.
He asked what does it profit a shopper to come to Port-of-Spain to save $100 on a pair of shoes or jeans then pay $500 in wrecking fees?
He said if wrecking private cars was not bad enough, the wreckers now resorted to towing commercial vehicles delivering goods to merchants.
Not using the words street vendors, Aboud said the other major issue was the unwillingness of the authorities to exert control of the city streets and to operate them within the ordinance of the rules of the city. The failure to do so, he said, has been causing all sorts of obstructions and difficulties.
Aboud said the very people who claim to be concerned about the “small man” were destroying the very epitome of the jobs and entrepreneurship of Port-of-Spain.
Fakoory: Signs of a decaying PoS since the early 2000s
Dennis Fakoory, chairman of Fakoory and Co Ltd, said in the early 2000s some business people had the vision and realised what was taking place and made the change.
He said in 2008 he sold his property which had been in his family on Charlotte Street for 68 years and relocated to El Socorro because the signs were already beginning to show.
Fakoory said Port-of-Spain used to be traditionally a wholesale environment and people went to shop where they felt comfortable.
He said with the advent of the Internet, more people were doing their own importing and the wholesale businesses in Port-of-Spain were forced to now shift to a more retail-type arrangement to attract more customers.
Fakoory said this worked for a while into the 90s and early 2000s but then the pavements continued to become more and more congested and successive governments and mayoral appointments did not do anything to reverse the trend. It was only a matter of time before Port-of-Spain became a lost city, he added.
He said the place had become more squalid, the environment was less inviting and encouraging to pedestrians and walk-in shoppers.
Fakoory said customers had to squeeze through congested spaces where more than likely at some point they would fall prey to pickpockets. He said that was why shoppers were gravitating to the new, clean malls throughout the entire country.
Fakoory said Port-of-Spain was a dying city on life support right now.
Businesses that moved out of PoS
Over the years, many businesses have moved out of Port-of-Spain. CE Tang Yuk and Co Ltd sold its property on Charlotte Street and now has branches in Mucurapo Road, St James, Long Circular Mall and Trincity Mall. Joseph Nahous & Co Ltd sold its business on Charlotte Street and now operates from Boundary Road, San Juan. Buywise Stores Ltd relocated its business from Charlotte Street to Diego Martin. Nizam Tamer sold its business on Charlotte Street and moved to San Juan.
Other businesses that moved out of Charlotte Street over the years: Nagib Elias Hardware, Male Box, B Nahous, Narwani’s, Kids Rule, Abdullah’s, Lebanese House, Ramdath’s Furniture, Young’s Hardware and Sookoo’s Variety Store.
PoS Mayor: Economic activity slowed down in T&T
Port-of-Spain Mayor Joel Martinez said economic activity on the whole had slowed down in T&T and the capital would be a recipient of that fallout first as it was more developed than many other places.
He said unlike San Fernando and Chaguanas, commercial activity occurred in the last boom in a major way in the late 80s.
Martinez said many residents moved out to allow businesses to thrive because they received top dollar for their homes when Port-of-Spain was bursting at its seams.
Martinez said he was talking with the private sector to brighten up the city for Christmas.
He said people were hard-pressed for funds, there will be no lavish expenditure but lighting will occur.
Source:  The Guardian, Dec. 10 CHARLES KONG SOO

Trinidadians have once again found themselves in winner's row for the Queen's Young Leaders Award.
Two men, Benedict Bryan and Jean-Claude Cournand, are among the regional winners in what will be the last Queen's Young Leaders Award.
Cournand is the founder of the Two Cents Movement. The team includes 12 young people and 10 poets and has led workshops and performances at more than 70 secondary schools and 30 primary schools.
According to a bio on the Queen's Young Leaders site, in 2017, the team’s focus was on gender-based violence, so Cournand partnered with the University of the West Indies Institute for Gender and Development Studies to train poets on the issues before they took their messages into schools.
The group has also hosted two annual national spoken-word events in which 25 secondary and 17 primary schools participated. Each year more than 40,000 young people in Trinidad and Tobago engage with the programme.
Bryan is the founder of the Humanitarian Association of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (HARTT), which focuses on providing humanitarian assistance to refugees. Its programmes have included an initiative which taught refugees English and extra-curricular activities to help them integrate into their new culture.
He also sits on the committee for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in Trinidad and Tobago. Currently, he is working alongside other young people throughout the Caribbean to launch a Youth Peace and Security Think Tank, the aim of which is to promote peace and security for all, especially for those from minority backgrounds.
Past winners of the Award were Teocah Dove, Siddel Ramkissoon and Matthew Batson.
Source:  The Loop, Dec. 6, 2017

Dr. Marissa Gowrie, Deputy Environmental Manager/National Ozone Officer of the Environmental Policy and Planning Division of the Ministry of Planning and Development, is one of 15 recipients out of 197 parties in the world to win a Policy and Implementation Leadership Award. 
A statement from the Ministry noted that The Ozone Awards recognises extraordinary contributions from governments, party delegates, groups or individuals who work tirelessly in the development and implementation of the Montreal Protocol.  These individuals, groups and organizations also exemplify the power of cooperation on large and small scales to accomplish goals and produce tangible change. Dr. Gowrie, the sole winner from Trinidad and Tobago, has demonstrated over 10 years of dedication contributing to the phasing out of ozone-depleting substances in Trinidad and Tobago.
The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago acceded to the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol in August 1989, the first to do so in the Caribbean region. In this regard, T&T is obligated to implement all phase-out requirements under the Protocol and Dr. Gowrie, through her work in the Ministry, has been recognized as a world leader in this regard. 
The Vienna Convention, which was adopted in 1985 establishes a framework for measures to protect human health and the environment against adverse effects resulting from modification to the ozone layer. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer established a mechanism and deadlines for the controlled phase-out of the global production and use of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) such as the refrigerant HCFCs, the fumigant methyl bromide and the fire suppressant halon, among others.
The Montreal Protocol is a very dynamic agreement and most notably in October 2016, there was a landmark amendment to include yet another refrigerant gas onto the Protocol, known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). This amendment known as the Kigali Amendment, to which Trinidad and Tobago is also a signatory, will phase down this potent greenhouse gas which contributes to climate change.  Source  The Loop News