The Tobago's Rich and Diverse Ecology
For years in a row, Tobago's ecology has earned it the World's Best Eco-Destination Award. All eco-tourists are invited to come.
There are eco-tourists who just love to be almost away from civilization, where they can enjoy the sights and sounds of nature, but still be cocooned in all the luxury of a star-rated hotel.
And there are eco-tourists who want their feet on the ground, as they track through forest trail, past bamboo grove and waterfall, observing bird and plant life and what have you.
And then there are eco-tourists who want to get involved in the local Environment Tobago movement to protect the environment.
Well, whatever kind of eco-tourist you are, Tobago is the place for you!
Do you know what is the oldest piece of environmental legislation in the world? It is entitled "An Act for Rendering a Certain Tract of Mountainous Lands Proper for Attracting Rains Inalienable" and it is dated 1776. Same year as the American Declaration of Independence. And it was the law that established the Forest Reserve that occupies the central spine of Tobago!
Once been a part of the South America mainland, Tobago's ecology sustains a great variety of tropical vegetation. From thick fern to towering Royal Palm to majestic spreading samaan trees!
There is the colourful poui, yellow and pink, which sheds its leaves in favour of flowers.
Then there is the immortelle, which celebrates the return of the dry season - and the tourist season- by clothing itself with bright orange blossoms. Not to be outdone, the 'glory cedar' blossoms at the same time - pink, but this time with green leaves. By the time the immortelle resumes its normal green, the sandbox tree, with dark-green shiny leaves, puts forth large flowers, more red than orange.
Oleander, beautifully pink or white - but deadly poison if ingested.
Bougainvillea was not originally a part of Tobago's ecology. A native of Brazil and named for the French Admiral Louis de Bougainville, it comes in a wide variety of colours - white, purple, orange, variegated - a stunning sight when tumbling over a wall! Watch out for the woody vines which are studded with spines or thorns, or as called locally, 'piquant'.
Anyway, this tree often grows in gullys, and for some reason has come to be associated in the minds of many with the Devil and his works. So there is a legend about this particular tree, (which by the way is called the Gran Gran Sara tree). Gran Gran Sara was supposed to be a witch who flew to Tobago from Africa. But alas!, when she got here she ate salt, and that prevented her from flying back to Africa. Her grave is said to be in Les Coteaux.
It is a strange legend. A witch is called a 'soupcouyant' and the connotations are usually evil. Yet this one is called 'Gran Gran' which is a term of endearment for one's grandmother. But then its only a legend, anyway.
But to get back to the vegetation, there are a large number of shrubs and herbs used for medicinal purposes, and there have been volumes written about them and their use. Believe it or not, some of them work, although medical science tends to dismiss them as of 'anecdotal' value only. One such is the 'carakeet, which you see here
The Tobago ecology includes 210 species of birds to be seen in Tobago. And while there may not be as many as in , say, Costa Rica, or even in Trinidad (which has 400 species) you don't have to travel long distances to find them. Depending on where you stay, you may not even have to leave you hotel compound. All the same, there is litle preventing you from exploring the forested areas. You can reach them from anywhere within an hour or a little more.
Do not feel that your interest in the ecology must take birdwatching in the Forest Reserve. There are the wetlands (yes, we do have some wetlands. And there is the sea; perhaps even from your balcony. I do it without even trying by just looking through a window in the morning. This mot-mot visits us every morning!
More attention is now being given to that important part of our ecology - the wetlands. There are wetlands at the western tip, the Bon Accord Lagoon; the Golden Grove Lagoon at Kilgwyn; and at Louis D'Or a little past Roxborough. At these you may find the Wattled Jacana or the Purple Gallinude, perhaps a Blue-winged Teal, various Egrets and such.
Other varieties you might see would be the Blue-Crowned Mot-Mot, the White-tailed Saberwing, the Blue-backed Manakin, the Red-footed Booby on St. Giles Island off the eastern tip of the island, and the Rufous-vented Chacalaca.
"Chacalaca" is the Venezuelan name for the Cocrico. The name mimics the kind of noise they make. They are brown and reminiscent of the pheasant. They will set up in pairs and get you awake in the morning before you are ready with a raucous and enthusiastic conversation, the one calling and the other answering.
If it should ever cross your mind that a well-directed stone is a good way to silence them, or (perish the thought) that they might serve some better purpose in a stew, be aware that said Cocrico is protected by law, it being regarded as the national bird of Tobago.
The hurricane of 1963 was a disaster for the ecology. After its devastation, the Grafton and Caledonia Bird and Wildlife Sanctuary was set aside out of the Grafton Estate as a conservation centre. You could enter free of charge. Here you will see an amazing collection of birds in one try, especially at feeding time which is 4.00 p.m.
Lizards abound in this ecology. There is a common garden lizard, a cousin to the iguana, called locally the 'twenty-four hours". According to legend, it attaches itself to a person for 24 hours, after which the person would die! I presume the person would be already in some sort of coma, if he lets it stay there that long!
Its larger cousin the iguana looks like how pre-historic monsters are pictured - bright green scaly skin, brown eyes, fat tail and a spiny fin along the backbone. A tasty dish, nonetheless, if you are so inclined. There is also the Golden Tree Frog, with a brown-patched body, translucent looking limbs and circular pods on its toes It croaks to warn intruders that it is venomous.< 
Tobago, and its big sister island, Trindad, are breeding grounds for the giant leatherback turtle. Rex Turtle Beach Resort sits on Turtle Beach near Plymouth. Between March and September these beaches are the haunt of nature lovers, who come to see the turtles lay their eggs. Much later, the two and a half inch hatchlings speed along the beach for the ocean. Of course, Tobago is not the only ecology that supports the leatherback. They can be found in Florida, Honduras and Suriname. They have even been seen in Newfoundland and in Alaska. This is the only turtle that does not have a hard shell on its back. Instead it sports a tough leathery tissue, from which it gets its name. These are huge creatures, from 4 to 8 feet in length. The largest on record was found washed up on the west coast of Wales in 1988 and weighed 916 kg. That is 2,000 pounds!
The turtles are disoriented by lights, and so photographers are discouraged from using flashbulbs and video lights. Due to habitat destruction, being entangled in fishing nets, and sometimes being taken for their meat, the numbers in the world keep dropping. So on January 2, 1976 , they were declared and endangered species.
Ecology-minded tourists can keep in mind the words found at one of the sights in Trinidad - TAKE NOTHING BUT PICTURES : LEAVE NOTHING BUT FOOTPRINTS
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There is the colourful flamboyant, in both yellow and red.
Those are some of the large plants, but the ecology suppodts an overwhelming variety of smaller plants, either cultivated or growing in the wild.
Do you see the man standing among the buttress roots of the huge tree? He is 6-feet tall !
There's a story to this tree. It is a tree called the silk-cotton. The seeds are among the tiniest, and float on the winds for long distances from the tree because of being surrounded by a large ball of silky fibres - hence silk cotton. 
The leaves when boiled make a tea that relieves, if not cures, the common cold. The flowers that you see here are no just about three-quarters of an inch across.
Fishing birds will of course be seen over or near the water: Pelicans, Plovers, Sandpipers. You might even catch sight of a Frigate bird. Little Tobago, I am told, was once the breeding ground of the Bird of Paradise. But the hurricane of 1962 swept them all away.
Tobago is tropical. So it should not surprise you that the ecology supports 28 species of snakes. Happily none are venomous. Nonetheless, snakebite is not a delightful experience, so if you take up hiking through the bushes, leave the sandals behind and get proper protective footwear - "just in case", as we are fond of saying. 
They have powerful well developed front fins, sometimes called flippers. They feed in the oceans on jellyfish, and unfortunately many die by ingesting floating plastic which they mistake for jellyfish. When they lumber ashore at night, they lay about 60 to 100 eggs, which they cover over with sand against natural predators. There are also people who suppose that the eggs are an aphrodisaic. 
