Christravelblog

Netherlands - 03-Dec-21 -

Ticking of WHS is one thing for me but also ticking of countries (I love lists) and with direct flights on KLM from Amsterdam to Trinidad & Tobago I just had to go. Of course also visiting the various TWHS.

How to get to Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve

I would say: by car only. Plus you have to get to Tobago as well. At the moment (pandemic) you can only get there from Trinidad. There are no international flights.

The site

The forest reserve covers a huge part of northern Tobago. A road crosses it from where you can make hikes of various length. The forest is mainly interesing for birth watchers as there are more as 200 and of which 30% is endemic.

Should it be WHS?

I would not say it has all the criteria. It's already a biosphere reserve and of course it must be protected. I do not think it deserves a WHS status as it's not that unique. On the submission it also says "Main Ridge Forest Reserve was also voted the "World's Leading Eco-Tourism destination" which I'm not really sure why that matters. If they go for WHS they should close (most part of) the reserve and have one or two trails left so that flora and fauna can thrive better. Of course not fully close it, then we cannot tick it off anymore :-)

In any case it was a pleasant hike for sure.

[photo license for worldheritagesite.org by Els only!]

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