Above; Tobago (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Is Tobago losing its beaches?

That’s the warning from Orville London, chief secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, who was speaking at a recent address in Tobago on change adaptation.

“The fact is that we are losing our beaches, we are losing our reefs, we are losing our coastline and in some way we are losing our natural heritage,” London said. “I don’t want to sound depressive but we are losing the battle against climate change and coastal zone challenges.”

London said changes that had occurred over the past 20 years indicated that Tobago was “not winning” the fight to preserve its natural heritage.

He also said he applauded the aims of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management team to “sustainably manage Trinidad and Tobago’s coastal and coastal space resources and activity.”

“I agree that it must be a participatory process that requires discourse, coordination and harmonisation among government agencies and other stakeholders including communities,” London said.