News network plans to put 'bois' on environmental abusers

THE Cropper Foundation and its partners celebrated World Environment Day with the launch of Cari-Bois Environmental News Network – the first-ever digital environmental reporting platform in Trinidad and Tobago to be powered entirely by citizen journalists.

The launch took place Friday via a Zoom video conference that was live-streamed on the Cari-Bois Environmental News Network Facebook page.

Chief executive officer of the Cropper Foundation, Omar Mohammed, opened the launch with an explanation of the genesis of the name 'Cari-Bois' and the platform's place in a larger civil society project funded by the European Union (EU).

European Union Ambassador to T&T, Aad Biesebroek, brought remarks on behalf of the delegation and re-emphasised the EU's commitment to environmental sustainability and civil society in Trinidad and Tobago by stating that the EU believes civil society organisations play a 'fundamental role in any democracy because they complement the activities of the Government and they contribute to policy shaping'.

Media veteran Sunity Maharaj gave an introduction to the Cari-Bois citizen journalism platform and explored its relevance to environmental transparency and accountability.

The launch also featured a video walk-through of the website and reflections from two new citizen journalists, Sean Austin of the Environmental and Social Consultative Association and Johanne Ryan from the Asa Wright Nature Centre.

This initiative represents the culmination of an EU-financed training programme entitled CSOs for Good Environmental Governance that saw 38 representatives from 21 different Civil Society Organisations throughout Trinidad and Tobago, trained over the course of three years to report on the environmental impact of the extractive industries (which includes the energy sector) on their respective communities, a statement said.

The Cropper Foundation has undertaken this project in collaboration with partners Environment Tobago, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea, the Network of Rural Women Producers and the Oilfields Workers' Trade Union.

The Lloyd Best Institute designed and implemented a series of workshops that saw the civil society organisation representatives trained in journalistic best practices and environmental reporting, the statement noted.

The name Cari-Bois Environmental News Network was chosen based on the cultural significance of the patois word 'bois'.

In Trinidad and Tobago folklore, 'Papa Bois' is regarded as the guardian of the forest and in artform of stick-fighting, we often hear the saying 'gih them bois', which is what this organisation intends to do to those threatening environmental sustainability in Trinidad and Tobago, the statement added.

Additionally, reference was drawn from the resilient bois canot trees which are always the first species to reclaim urbanised land.

Information quickly available

In explaining the mission of Cari-Bois Environmental News Network, Mohammed stated the objective of Cari-Bois is to make environmental information quickly available to media outlets and the general public at no cost.

In this way, he noted, Cari-Bois is a media resource that complements the work of media houses since it is based on the ground and in communities where major public interest events occur such as oil spills, illegal quarrying, gas leaks, fish kills, flooding, landslides and other impacts of environmental degradation.

Most of the programme's trainees live in rural areas of the country and will be connected through the news site.

For more information check the Cari-Bois Environmental News Network website: https://www.caribois. org/ or Cari-Bois Environmental News Network Facebook: https://www. facebook. com/cariboisnews/