Grande Riviere - Ecotourism

Ecotourism

In 1992, following the success of Nature Seekers in Matura, the Grande Riviere Environmental Awareness Trust (GREAT) was established with the aim of protecting nesting Leatherback turtles on Grande Riviere beach. The following year Italian photographer Piero Guerrini rented the former cocoa estate headquarters and converted it into a 12-room beach front hotel, Mt. Plasir. The hotel was very successful and was eventually joined by three other hotels - Le Grande Almandier hotel, a 10-room hotel, McEachnie’s Haven, a six-room hotel, and Acajou, a 7-room ecological boutique-hotel. In addition, villagers started renting rooms to visitors.

GREAT began training tour guides, but a subsequent split led to the formation of Grande Riviere Nature Tour Guides Association (GRNTGA) which focussed more on tour guides, while the remainder of GREAT focussed on protection of turtle hatchlings. In addition to sea turtles, there is an interest in nature tourism more broadly, including the critically endangered Pawi (Trinidad Piping-guan, the only bird species endemic to Trinidad).

Coordinates: 10°50′N 61°03′W / 10.833°N 61.05°W / 10.833; -61.05