Long Stretch Forest Reserve

The Long Stretch Forest Reserve sits in east-central Trinidad at the foot of the Northern Range, spanning a landscape that transitions from closed-canopy tropical forest into an unusual mosaic of open savanna, palm marsh, marsh forest, and intermittent open water. The reserve forms part of the Cumuto-Arena conservancy corridor and contains upper catchment lands that contribute to freshwater supply for communities downstream. A 1935 Forestry Division management plan originally contemplated controlled timber harvesting within the reserve, but between 1940 and 1956 some 1,660 hectares of the savanna zone and adjacent lands were leased to the United States Armed Forces for the establishment of Fort Read, leaving a legacy of bunkers, drainage channels, and roadways still visible today.

The prohibited-area portion of the Long Stretch Forest Reserve protects what is now formally recognised as the Aripo Savannas Environmentally Sensitive Area (declared ESA in 2007), covering approximately 1,788 hectares. The savanna's character is determined by a hardpan clay layer that simultaneously waterlogged soils during the wet season and induces drought stress in the dry season, suppressing tree growth and maintaining open grassland. Six distinct vegetation communities have been mapped: open savanna, palm marsh, marsh forest, palm island, intermittent open water, and trackside. The iconic Moriche Palm occurs here in groves found nowhere else in the Caribbean archipelago. Surveys have recorded approximately 457 species within the reserve, including at least two strict endemics, the sedge Rhynchospora aripoensis and the yellow-eyed grass Xyris grisebachii, alongside more than 250 bird species, red brocket deer, armadillo, porcupine, and the rare scarlet-shouldered parakeet.

The prohibited-area designation under the Forests Act goes beyond the protections attached to an ordinary forest reserve: entry is permitted only by permit issued by the Forestry Division, and every permit carries mandatory conditions governing movement, research, and any removal of materials. This framework was applied to the Long Stretch portion in 1987, at the same time the Aripo Savannas were proposed as a scientific reserve, in direct response to escalating pressure from illegal quarrying, agricultural squatting, and uncontrolled fires. Despite decades of statutory protection, encroachment continues to erode the reserve's margins each year, and enforcement capacity remains constrained.