When local employees realized that a peninsula of land at BP’s Galeota Point terminal on the southeastern tip of Trinidad was going to waste as an obsolete machinery store, they decided it was time they did something about it.
The Galeota promontory had once been a stopping-off point for many bird species on migratory routes across the Caribbean, and the team determined to try and restore the land as a bird sanctuary. The first step was to erect a fence to isolate the area from the Terminal plant, and allow wildlife to breed. Natural vegetation was preserved and encouraged, with fruit and shade trees planted to further improve the environment. Trinidad-endangered blue and gold macaws, ramier doves, saffron finches, morrocoy, iguanas and agoutis were introduced as breeding stock in a specially designed enclosure, with BP employees tending to the animals in their spare time every day. A pond was dug to collect natural water runoff, and a local freshwater water lily introduced. Nature trails were also established.
The nature reserve also contains the wellhead of the first well ever drilled in Trinidad by an oil major - an important part of the history of oil and gas in Trinidad & Tobago. Ramier doves, saffron finches, iguanas and agouti have been released into the reserve and can now be watched from time to time. Other wildlife has returned to the area, including wattled jacana and osprey.
Many people now visit the reserve, including fishermen, school children and students from all over Trinidad. In 2003 students from the University of West Indies came to study the site’s biodiversity. Further projects are planned, which will be managed under the recently established Galeota Point Nature Reserve Partnership that includes local companies and NGOs. The partnership offers a diverse range of skills and includes people from the local community.
Galeota Point is a great example of what BP employees can do to restore local environments around their facilities. According to one employee – “You can make quite a difference to the environment simply by looking around you - and then really going out there to do something about it.”