Honor Award

Building Resilience: The Re-Charging of Tobago’s Buccoo Reef Through Electro-Accumulation and Sustainable Infrastructure

Zahra Awang, Student ASLA, University of Toronto
Faculty Advisor: Robert Wright

This thesis attempts to ameliorate vital tourism development in Tobago with the sensitive coral reef ecology at its centre. Buccoo Reef, the region’s only marine protected area and largest fringing coral reef, is the site of focus. The project aims to evolve area reef recreation while supporting reef ecology via a combination of zoning and sustainable infrastructure. A key component is an artificial reef technology that improves the ability of coral to resist environmental stress.

Context

In her book, Sea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisis, the environmental journalist Alanna Mitchell affirms that two phenomena are changing the ocean’s character: carbon dioxide and heat. About one third of the carbon dioxide humans are emitting has entered the ocean while approximately 80% of the additional heat created by climate change has been absorbed by it. Concurrently, the mass removal of marine life by global fisheries has upset the ocean’s own ability to stabilize itself. As ocean acidification increases and Ph levels decrease (the result of CO2 dissolving in water), the cumulative effect is the inhibition of coral reef calcification and formation.

Coral reefs are an extremely valuable natural resource globally for several important services they provide: tourism, fisheries and shoreline protection. On a global scale, if coral reef ecosystems continue to experience degradation at the current rate, by 2015, we will see an annual net loss of US$300 million in tourism, up to US$139 million in fisheries and up to US$420 million from reduction of shoreline protection. The economic benefits of the shoreline protection, fisheries and tourism services of Buccoo Reef alone over a 25-year period are estimated at over $250 million.

Environmental Impact

The coastal areas of southwest Tobago have seen a dramatic loss of vegetation in recent years due to expanding shoreline developments (mostly tourism-related), unsuitable farming practices and the direct output of sewage into coastal waters. The result has been an intense increase in top-soil erosion, marine-based pollution and subsequently, levels of sedimentation and nutrients in inshore reefs. Over-fishing and recreational disturbances have further exacerbated the stress Tobago’s coral reefs are under.

Additionally, in 2005, a widespread coral bleaching event occurred throughout much of the Eastern Caribbean, affecting the site in question. The inner reef experienced the most extensive bleaching, likely because of its proximity to the coast and added pressures of pollution and sedimentation in coastal waters. Following this event, however, it was determined through extensive surveying that several species of coral were particularly resilient to bleaching and able to recover to from the event. These were primarily staghorn, elkhorn and finger coral.

Project + Scope

With over 40,000 visitors per year and a total of 7 square kilometers in size, Buccoo Reef Marine Park figures as a major tourist attraction in Tobago. Pigeon Point, the island’s premier beach and water-sports resort area borders the reef. Tourism generates approximately 55% of the island’s GDP. Fishing is the second largest industry. The reef is a nursery for commercially important stocks of fish and shellfish. A lack of resources, however, have prevented local conservation agencies from enforcing the existing no-fishing legislation and though various marine populations are generally higher in this area, several species have been almost fully exploited, including conch and lobster.

The project approach is four-fold. First, the re-routing of effluent from local sewage plants through sub-surface constructed wetlands for remediation prior to output into coastal waters around the reef. Second, the enforcement of no-fishing legislation within the Park boundaries for the recharging of over-exploited marine populations, the cordoning off of ecologically important habitats and the zoning of area recreation to minimize disturbances to marine populations. Third, the implementation of artificial Biorock reefs to connect habitats of resilient coral target species and to accelerate and enhance their propogation and act as an alternative destination for tourists to take pressure off the natural coral reef stands. Finally, fourth, the re-location and renovation of the headquarters of an important area conservation agency, the Buccoo Reef Trust, which are the primary stewards of the Park.

American Society of Landscape Architects