Introduction

Problem Statement: What are the impacts of anthropogenic activities on the environment in
the Chaguaramas area?
Research Questions
1. What are the anthropogenic activities that have an impact on the Chaguaramas area?
2. Who are affected by the anthropogenic activities in the Chaguaramas area?
3. When are these people affected by the anthropogenic activities
4. Where/ which part of Chaguaramas is affected by these activities?
5. How are the people in Chaguaramas affected by these activities?
6. Why is Chaguaramas affected by these activities?

Purpose of Research
The purpose of this research is to investigate the impacts of anthropogenic activities on the
environment in the Chaguaramas area since it is a tourist attraction and is visited often by a
large number of people.

Educational Value
This research would benefit the government and the tourism industry since they can
become aware of the negative environmental conditions at Chaguaramas and seek ways of
improving it for its tourists since it is a part of the income generating activities in Trinidad
and Tobago.

Key Terms
Anthropogenic Activities- environmental pollution originating from human activity.
Ecosystem- An ecosystem includes all of the living things (plants, animals and organisms) in
a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments.
Environment- the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or
operates.
Habitat Destruction- the natural habitat is unable to support the species present, destroying
them causing them to die.
Pollution- the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment.
Pollutants- a substance that pollutes something.

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Literature Review

The Chaguaramas Peninsula Case Study, a thesis, written by Dr. Mary Alkins-Koo
(2008) stated that “Recreation activities has been increased by the CDA to promote tourism
in the area. These activities has affected land, air and water by pollutants such as sewage,
solid waste and chemical pollutants due to the poor management of waste disposal and run
off from land and water based activities.” The source is therefore useful to my topic since
these activities are anthropogenic activities that have a negative impact on the environment.
These pollutants as well as waste water from nearby kitchens and heavy metals can
contaminate the water, pollutants from industrial activities and traffic congestion from events
held in nightclubs nearby contributes to air pollution which impacts the environment
negatively and could be the possible sources of problems such as flooding, disruption of
ecosystems, discourage tourists to visit the area and serious health issues to visitors.

Fish killed at Scotland Bay, a newspaper article, written by Radhica Sookraj (2015)
stated “Dead fishes are floating in the water around the north western peninsula in Trinidad
following an oil slick off Chaguaramas.” Similarly, as mentioned in the case study on
Chaguaramas above these human activities have a negative impact on the environment
causing the disruption of ecosystem and habitat disruption. As a result of this yachties and
fishermen would be affected since their vessels are being contaminated by oil as well as
people who depend on these resources as an income to survive. This source is therefore more
reliable than the case study done in Chaguaramas since people such as sea bathers can be
affected by infectious diseases or become very ill as a result of the different industries and
vessels with the improper discharge of their waste.

Effect of Human Activities on the Environment, an internet article, written by

Seattle(2010) stated “ it is shown that humans activities is directly linked to impact on
environment such as decreased water quality, pollution, greenhouse gases emissions,
depletion of natural resources and contribution to global climate change.” However, as
mentioned before humans affect the environment. By overusing too much fertiliser water
quality is affected which cause the habitat destruction and the disruption of ecosystems. Air
pollution is also increased by human activities such as emissions from motor vehicles,
industrial factories and power plants release air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, lead and other pollutants into the atmosphere which causes serious health issues such
as cancer and various lung diseases. These activities can cause global warming due to the

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emission of greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. This source
is very useful since it includes the different types of pollution cause by these anthropogenic
activities and how they affect the environment as well as other. These activities will cause sea
levels to rise as a result and threats to coastal communities and economies that rely on these
resources.

Environmental Science Unit 2, a textbook article written by Vindra Cassie, & Phillip da
Silva, & Alana Lancaster, & Julian Oxford (2014) mentioned “Marine pollution include oil
spills and the dumping of waste into the sea while land based sources include polluted runoff
from farms and improper disposal of waste into rivers, streams and gullies which eventually
ends up in the sea.” Human waste is disposed in the water courses daily which is a major
threat to aquatic species. The disposing of high levels of solid waste is another problem since
species can also be affected. Other activities such as construction, fires, cement industries aid
in pollutants such as dust, smoke which contribute to high levels asthma and other lung
ailments as well as depletion of the environment hence in different countries governments
have enforced laws for persons to be fined for littering etc. This source is useful to my
research since it shows the negative impacts of these anthropogenic activities.

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Data Collection Sources
In order to carry out the internal assessment for Caribbean Studies on the impacts of
anthropogenic activities on the environment in the Chaguaramas area, both primary and
secondary sources of data was used. The primary sources used was a questionnaire whilst the
secondary sources used were webpages, textbooks, journals, and newspaper articles.
A questionnaire is an instrument used for collecting data. It is a list of items/questions to
which one is seeking answers to. It should contain short, clear items that address the problem
directly. The questions in a questionnaire may be open ended or closed ended. The researcher
chose questionnaire as their instrument for collecting data because it allow respondents time
to think about their responses and the data can be analysed easily. The questionnaire
consisted of fourteen (14) questions.
A total of 20 questionnaires were distributed in the Chaguaramas area to people of
different ages. The questionnaires consisted of fourteen questions of which ten questions are
close ended and four questions were open ended.

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Presentation of Data

How often do you visit the Chaguaramas area?

Responses:
Often- 8 respondents
Sometimes- 9 respondents
Seldom- 3 respondents

Fig.1 Textbox showing how often persons visit the Chaguaramas area.
The textbox above shows how often persons visit the Chaguaramas area. The highest was
sometimes with 9 respondents, followed by often with 8 respondents, then seldom with the
least of 3 respondents.

Negative Impact of Chaguaramas

35%

65%

Yes No

Fig.2 Pie Chart showing whether Chaguaramas has a negative impact.

The pie chart above shows the responses for “Does Chaguaramas have any negative impact
on you?” 65%/13 respondents responded yes which was the highest while 35%/7 respondents
responded No.

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 Human Activities That Affect

Chaguaramas

Littering - 10 Infrastruture- 2 Sewage- 4 Industrial

Waste -4

Fig. 3 Flow Chart showing the Human Activities That Affect Chaguaramas.
The flow chart above shows the different human activities that affect the environment in
Chaguaramas area and the responses. Littering has 10 respondents which was the highest,
Sewage and Industrial waste both had 4 respondents, infrastructure had 2 and Oil, Farming
and Other had 0 respondents.

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14

12

10

0
Tourists Visitors Fishermen Yachties Other

Contributors of negative impacts on the environment

Persons affected

Fig.4 Line Graph showing the persons contributing to the negative impacts VS. the persons
affected.
The line graph above shows the number of person contributing to the negative impact of the
environment vs. the persons affected. As shown tourists were lower in contributors with 0
and higher in affected with 6, visitor were higher in contributors with 15 and lower in
affected with 5, fishermen were lower in contributors with 2 and high in affected with 9,
Yachties were low in both categories and only 1 other in contributors.

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Table 1 below shows the consequences of human activities on the environment.
Consequences No. of Respondents
Pollution 7
Flooding 4
Disrupts Ecosystem 4
Causes Diseases 3
Jobs affected 1
Destroys tourist attractions 1

The table shows the number of respondents for consequences caused by human activities.
Pollution is seen to have 7 which is the highest, flooding and disrupts ecosystem with 4,
causes diseases with 3 and jobs affected and destroys tourist’s attractions with 1.

Daily

Weekly

Monthly

Throughout the year

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Fig. 5 Bar Graph showing when Chaguaramas is affected by human activities.

The bar graph shows when Chaguaramas is affected by human activities and the number of
responses. Throughout the year has 16 respondents which is the highest, daily has 3
respondents which is the second highest, monthly with 1 and the least being weekly with 0.

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 Types of Pollution
1 1
4 6% 5%
20% Air
Water
Solid Waste
Noise
14
69%

Fig.6 Pie Chart showing types of pollution chaguaramas is affected by.

The pie chart shows the number of respondents for the different types of pollution
Chaguaramas is affected by. Water pollution had the highest number of respondents with 14,
followed by solid waste pollution with 4 and then both air and noise pollution with 1.

Fig.7 Picture showing how negative the activities at Chaguaramas are.

A scale of 1-10 was used to measure how negative the activities are however these were the
responses of the respondents. The most negative was 10 which had 7 respondents, 7 and 8
both had 4 respondents, 5 had 3 respondents and 9 and 6 had the least with 1 respondent.

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Table 2 showing what can be done to reduce of the impact of human activities in
Chaguaramas.
Methods No. of Respondents
Implement Fines 3
Provide Bins 7
Enforce Stricter Laws 5
Public Awareness and Education 2
Security 1
Clean Ups 2

The table shows methods that can be used to reduce the impact of human activities and the
number of respondents. Provide bins was the highest with 7, enforce stricter laws was 5,
implement fines 3, both public awareness and clean ups 2 and the least was security with 1.

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Analysis/ Interpretation of Data
After conducting research with the use a questionnaire as a primary source of data
collection results were obtained. From my questionnaire, the respondents were asked “how
often do you visit the Chaguaramas area?” 8 respondents responded often, 9 sometimes and 3
seldom however, all 20 respondents agreed that human activities has a negative impact on
Chaguaramas. The question following was if the area has any negative impact on you which
again the highest number of respondents saying yes (13) and no (7). The persons answering
yes were asked to explain their answer and many responded based on pollution. When asked
“What are the human activities that affect the environment in the Chaguaramas area?”
littering had the highest number of respondents, followed by sewage and industrial waste
both with 4 respondents, then oil, farming and other with 0 being the least number of
respondents.
In the previous question the responses were based on pollution but this question gave
options as to what causes the pollution and as shown the highest was littering. Questions such
as what aspect the mostly affected by human activities and what type of pollution is
Chaguaramas mostly affected by and majority of the respondents responded beach and water
pollution. The question above had a high number of respondents for littering which ties with
solid waste pollution however water pollution was still the highest. Some other questions
following were based on a scale of 1-10 and how negative are the activities. All the responses
were 5-10 with 10 being the highest number of respondents. Since no respondents responded
below 5 this clearly shows that the area has negative impacts on the environment. This
reveals that Chaguaramas aquatic species are affected since these are treats to their habitats
and this will have an impact in fishermen since this is their source of income and people who
consume these species may become ill.
Questions such as the major contributors and the persons mainly affected had high number
of respondents for visitors 15 and 5 respectively and fishermen 2 and 9 respectively. As seen
visitors are both contributing and affected by these activities and may be in the form of
diseases as suggested in the consequences and fishermen in the form of disrupting the
ecosystem and lost of jobs. Pollution however was suggested by most persons for
consequences and then flooding. The respondents were asked the timeframe they are mostly
affected with the highest being throughout the year (16) followed by daily (3) then monthly
(1). The respondents were asked what can be done to reduce the impact caused by human
activities in the area. Majority of the respondents responded provide bins and enforce stricter
laws, others suggested public awareness and education as well as clean ups. Therefore if
these measures are put in place there will be a decrease in littering, air pollution etc which
will decrease the greenhouse gases that leads to climate change and the environment would
be less polluted.
All the questions were asked based on the impacts of human activities and as shown
majority of the responses show how the area is affected, when and what can be done.
According to the responses the area is therefore impacted negatively by anthropogenic
activities leading to water, air, solid waste pollution such as sewage, infrastructure, littering,
health issues, oil spills which therefore affects tourists, destruction of ecosystems, habitat
disruptions, public, soil erosion, increased carbon dioxide emissions etc. The area is therefore
in need of serious clean up in order to be sustainable and to benefit from tourism.

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Discussion of Findings
According to the Chaguaramas Peninsula Case Study written by Dr. Mary Alkins-Koo
recreational activities has led to air, water and solid waste pollution. The results obtained
from the questionnaire shows that water, air and solid waste pollution is present there.
Therefore the results obtained from both secondary and primary sources are similar. However
the writer also spoke about noise pollution from traffic congestion and fetes held at night but
there was only one respondent for noise pollution.
The newspaper article written by Radica Sookraj stated that dead fishes were found in the
Chaguaramas area due to oil spills. Oil was not one seen to be affecting the area from the
questionnaire however water pollution was seen as the most popular type of pollution and this
can disrupt the ecosystem and cause habitat destruction. Therefore the fishes may not die
only as a result of an oil spill but due to the solid waste, sewage and other chemicals released
into the water etc.
An internet article written by Seattle stated that human activity is linked to impact on
environment such as decreased water quality, pollution, greenhouse gases emissions,
depletion of natural resources and contribution to global climate change. According to
respondents the sewage, industrial waste, litter, infrastructure can deplete the natural
resources, pollute the environment and contribute to climate change.
An Environmental Science Textbook article stated that human waste (sewage) is disposed
into the water courses daily. This as suggested by respondents can cause serious skin diseases
to sea bathers and can disrupt aquatic species such as fishes and corals. This can lead to loss
of jobs for fishermen and other jobs associated with marine. It can also affect the tourism
industry as corals and other flora and fauna is destroyed. The construction and fires nearby
can cause dust and other particles to release in the air and cause air pollution which is seen to
be affecting people in the Chaguaramas area.

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Conclusion
Chaguaramas area is seen to be affected by anthropogenic activities. Pollution is the
major issue as the area is affected by air, water, solid waste and noise pollution. The activities
that affect the area are littering, sewage, industrial waste, infrastructure, chemicals, traffic etc.
which cause diseases to sea bathers, causes habitat distruction, loss of jobs for fishermen,
flooding, and affects tourism.

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Limitations of the Research Design
There were limitations that would have obstructed me obtaining information. Some were
when obtaining secondary sources it was difficult to obtain information based on
Chaguaramas alone, there were only 20 questionnaires and those 20 respondents could have
similar responses which was difficult to obtain my findings, using a questionnaire was time
consuming since I had to wait on each respondent to complete it and to analyse the
information obtained and the respondents may not have been knowledgeable to answer the
questions.

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Recommendations
Anthropogenic activities can impact the environment negatively therefore it is
recommended that the government enforce stricter laws such as implement fines for littering
and pollution etc., the necessary authority provide bins and cameras to monitor activities on
the beach, the different environmental agencies should have regular clean ups to avoid
flooding and make available Public Awareness and Education about keeping the environment
clean.

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Bibliography

Vindra Cassie, & Phillip da Silva, & Alana Lancaster, & Julian Oxford (2014).
Environmental Science Unit 2.

Seattle (2010). Effect of Human Activities on the Environment. Retrieved from

http://education.seattlepi.com/effect-human-activities-environment-3653.html

Radhica Sookraj (2015). Fish killed at Scotland Bay. Retrieved from Trinidad and
Tobago Guardian ltd.

Dr. Mary Alkins-Koo (2008). The Chaguaramas Peninsula Case Study. Retrieved
from http://docslide.us/documents/chaguaramas-peninsula-case-study.html

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Appendix
Dear Respondents,
My name is Karen Bisnath and I attend Waterloo Secondary School. This questionnaire
was designed to gather information on your view on “What are the impact of anthropogenic
activities on the environment in the Chaguaramas area?” The purpose of this research is to
fulfil my CAPE Caribbean Studies I.A. so your time used in answering the questions would
be greatly appreciated. When answering the questionnaire all your information is welcome
since there are no right or wrong answers. Your responses will be kept confidential. Thanks
for your consideration.

_________________________
Karen Bisnath

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Questionnaire
Please tick the most suitable response.
1. Age: ____________
2. Gender : M F
3. Where do you live?
_________________________________________________________
4. How often do you visit the Chaguaramas area?
Often Sometimes Seldom Never
5. Does the area have any negative impact on you?
Yes No
If yes, explain your answer _____________________________________
___________________________________________________________
6. What are the human activities that affect the environment in the Chaguaramas area?
Littering
Infrastructure
Sewage
Oil
Industrial waste
Farming
Other
7. Which aspect of Chaguaramas is mostly affected by human activities?
Beaches Land Air
8. Who are the major contributors of these activities?
Tourists Visitors Fishermen Yachties Other
If other please state_____________________________________________
9. Who are mainly affected by these human activities?
Fishermen Tourists Visitors Authority
10. What are the consequences of human impacts on the environment?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
11. When are you affected by these activities?
Throughout the year Monthly Weekly Daily
If monthly state which months __________________________________

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12. What type of pollution is Chaguaramas mostly affected by?
Air pollution Water pollution Solid waste pollution Noise pollution

13. On a scale of 1-10 how negative are these activities on the environment?
_________________
14. How do you think you can reduce the impact of these activities on the environment?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

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