Shivonne Peters, marine scientist, advocates the use of low-cost technology to monitor and protect Marine Protected Areas such as Buccoo Reef.
Within the recent year, the covid19 pandemic causing government-imposed restrictions, has led to the third closure of the Buccoo Reef Marine Park in Tobago. Every period of closure has prompted the use of innovation and technology to redefine operations and strategies with respect to monitoring and preserving our coastal and marine resources. The question remains, how do we effectively monitor a significantly large marine space and how can we do so at minimal cost? The use of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has become an increasingly popular tool for aerial photography and videography especially along scenic areas such as beaches and rocky coastlines. But this “eye in the sky” apparatus can certainly be used for monitoring the marine park.
Only a few days ago, we were excited to learn about the climate-smart agriculture project led by the Cropper Foundation, using drones for data collection. It is in fact a perfect tool with a variety of applications due to its relatively low-cost, ease of operation and technical capabilities, lightweight and wide operational range. Drones are also capable of acquiring detailed imagery where flora and fauna identification is possible. In other Caribbean countries, drones have been used to map sea turtles, sharks and other marine megafauna and even identify benthic or sea floor habitats. In our case, the use of drones may be the answer to the perennial question, how can we monitor the marine park, for conservation purposes and to manage human activities?
Since 2020, there have been significant improvements in the frequency of marine patrols in the protected area to now incorporate weekends, public holidays and even periods of closure due to covid19 restrictions. Patrols, however, require substantial manpower; on average three patrol officers and resources; a vessel, fuel and other equipment. With only one patrol vessel operational at any given time, this system has gaps with respect to the coverage of this seven-km2 space. Imagine, utilising a drone as the primary mechanism to patrol the marine park and conducting multiple flights per day, covering the entire space in a shorter time than it would take a patrol boat to mobilise and criss-cross the area. Based on the preliminary results of a 2020 study and building on best practices in the region and internationally, it’s certainly an avenue that should be explored.
[caption id="attachment_890699" align="alignnone" width="1024"] An aerial view of Bon Accord Lagoon and No Man’s Land. -[/caption]
The 2020 study, part of an ongoing PhD study at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, was conducted to determine the spatial extent of different habitats within the Buccoo Reef Marine Park. Due to the high resolution of the imagery acquired from even the least sophisticated drones, habitat types such as coral colonies, seagrass beds, sandy ar
