South Eastern Hunters Association Tree Planting Day

Hunters are usually regarded as indiscriminate destroyers of our wildlife. This is not always the case.

As part of ensuring the sustainable use of Trinidad and Tobago’s wildlife resources, the South-Eastern Hunters Association conducts a fruit tree planting exercise every year. It was held this year on the 26th July with hunters being asked to plant fruit trees in the areas where they hunt and non-hunters were encouraged to plant fruit trees anywhere. The official ceremony took place on Saunder’s Road, Cat’s Hill (off the Rio Claro-Guayaguayare Road). It was expected that approximately 3000 fruit trees would be planted.

Hunting that is practiced for profit (for the wildmeat and pet trade) is destructive. These hunters focus on killing/collecting as many animals as quickly as they can. Sport hunters on the other hand are in it for the challenge. True, both forms result in the death of an animal, but the numbers taken by sport hunting are (in theory) considerably less. Sport hunters have a vested interest in ensuring that wildlife is hunted in a sustainable manner and several members of the hunting association are game wardens, actively working to prevent off season hunting. Internationally there are many hunting associations that are at the forefront of conservation.

The association’s president emphasized the need to develop a system of sustainable wildlife and forestry management. He pointed out the short-comings of current re-afforestation efforts by the Forestry division (which focus on non-native/commercial species) and how it was having a negative impact on forest ecology (reduced canopy cover). In the long run this not only affects Trinidad and Tobago’s wildlife but our water and air quality. The group intends to hold an in-depth seminar in September on this topic. I really must commend the SEHA for their efforts and I encourage everyone to take a second look at our hunters.