THE WINNER OF THE CASLE LECTURE PRIZE 2008 is 27-year-old Terri Richardson. a MPhil/PhD student of the Department of Surveying and Land Information at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago. Graduated with Upper 2 nd Class Honors in BSc. Surveying and Land Information.
The Paper is reproduced here in full.
AN ASSESSMENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: A GEOINFORMATICS APPROACH
Abstract
Ad hoc land use planning pays very little consideration to environmental impact or physical constraints, which has given rise to urban sprawl, resulting in physical, socio-economic and environmental problems. In Trinidad and Tobago this can be seen as a result of the country’s economic progress. Urbanization and deforestation are fragmenting the natural landscape and reducing the viability of species that play important functional role in ecosystems.
In an effort to have a sustainable future it is important to know and view the country as a whole when it relates to environmental impact and long term planning. The future patterns of land use and land cover must be understood at a series of spatial and temporal scales to distinguish and predict the behaviour and impacts of local land use, and other environmental and social systems.
This research uses remotely sensed images to build a times series of LU/C maps to evaluate the changes and determining the driving forces responsible for these changes. The goal is to undertake a detailed, spatially explicit inventory of local trends in land use and land cover changes. This data coupled with the interdisciplinary assortment of scientific methods will be used to investigate the causes and consequences of land use/cover change across a range of spatial and temporal scales. The result of this research would contribute to developing recommendations to enhance sustainability and to foster resilience.
This research uses remotely sensed images to build a times series of LU/C maps to evaluate the changes and determining the driving forces responsible for these changes. The goal is to undertake a detailed, spatially explicit inventory of local trends in land use and land cover changes. This data coupled with the interdisciplinary assortment of scientific methods will be used to investigate the causes and consequences of land use/cover change across a range of spatial and temporal scales. The result of this research would contribute to developing recommendations to enhance sustainability and to foster resilience.
1 Background
Trinidad and Tobago has become the leading Caribbean producer of oil and gas. The country has earned a reputation as an excellent investment site for international businesses. Tourism is a growing sector, although not proportionately as important as in many other Caribbean islands. The economy benefits from a growing trade surplus. Economic growth in
