NORTH-EAST TOBAGO CORAL REEF ASSESSMENTS AND MONITORING

Effective, appropriate and adaptive coral reef and coastal zone management are directly dependent on understanding the status and dynamics of the systems that those conservation and management strategies are designed to safeguard. At a time when there is a growing recognition of the paradigm of shifting baselines, the need for ongoing and consistent monitoring of systems and their management is arguably increasingly important.

Reef Check is the official coral reef monitoring programme of the United Nations, empowering EcoDivers throughout the world to identify key indicator species, conduct reef surveys and assessments, and collect and submit data for a global reef health database. Furthermore, it is a protocol that has been assimilated into a number of community-based management programmes globally, the evolution of a citizen science phenomenon that is helping to restore people's connection with the environment, inspire them to action and build a momentum of conservation consciousness.

ERIC is the centre for Reef Check in Trinidad and Tobago, and with funding from GEF Small Grants Programme UNDP, British High Commission and the Organisation of American States, established a long-term coral reef monitoring programme in northeast Tobago. With our team of EcoDiver Trainers and EcoDivers we continue to gather the information required to inform management decision-making and to support the government-led proposal for a marine reserve integrated with the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve.

We offer EcoDiver training to divers and groups who would like to add to their dive skills and experience, or the opportunity to Discover Reef Check to those with time constraints. Additionally, recreational divers can join our Reef Check surveys and observe and learn from our team in action.

Our coral reefs programme is conducted under a current Research Permit issued by the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Tobago House of Assembly. Visit our Permits and Policies page for further information. 

For more information on our coral reef monitoring programme please email info@eric-tobago.org.