Pointe-à-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust

Founded in 1966, the Pointe-à-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust is a not for profit environmental non-government organisation dedicated to environmental education and the conservation of wetlands and waterfowl. Located in Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago, the trust contains two lakes and about 25 hectares within the Petrotrin oil refinery.

The Pointe-à-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust's goals are environmental education and public awareness; research, breeding and re-introduction programmes for locally endangered, wetland birds; improved environmental policies through lobbying; and the promotion and implementation of the wise use of natural resources.

In their daily environmental education programmes, the Pointe-à-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust teaches about “linkages.” The trust discusses all aspects of the natural environment and their links to human health and well-being, and to social & economic impacts, problems and solutions.

The trust also teaches about wetland ecosystems, from forests to coral reefs and their links to people. Thus, the trust has a holistic approach to teaching. The trust also believes that ‘hands on’ experiences in nature are invaluable to awakening a young child’s senses and that environmental education should be taken a step further, so, it launched a special programme for pre-schoolers with the concept of ‘touch’, ‘feel’, ‘smell’, and sometimes, ‘taste’. The trust also holds workshops to train school teachers and members of community-based organizations. The trust strongly believes that environmental education must be included in the State’s teacher training programmes.

The trust has long been involved with environmental education therapy for the physically and mentally challenged, the elderly, victims of substance abuse and battered women. It is believed that in nature, one is uplifted and refreshed and that this bond can and does provide a valuable mental and spiritual boost and release for the handicapped and the ill, indeed for everyone.

The Pointe-à-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust was founded by Richard S. Dean who hunted around the refinery and John Cambridge in 1966. The name "Wild Fowl Trust" was derived from the wild birds that settled in the abandoned lakes. In 1979, under the guide of Molly R. Gaskin, the trust initiated an environmental education programme with audio-visuals; the first to be taken into primary, secondary and comprehensive schools and community groups throughout Trinidad, and later on, occasionally in Tobago.

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