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Impact of oil and gas drilling in Trinidad: factors influencing environmental attitudes and behaviours within three rural wetland communities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2009

A. KAREN BAPTISTE  and
BRENDA J NORDENSTAM
A. KAREN BAPTISTE*
Affiliation:
Syracuse University, Room 305, 113 Euclid Ave, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA
BRENDA J NORDENSTAM
Affiliation:
State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 110A Marshall Hall, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
*
*Correspondence: Dr A. Karen Baptiste Tel: +1 315 443 0284 Fax: +1 315 443 1725 e-mail: [email protected]
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Summary

Oil and gas development generates socio-ecological consequences for coastal ecosystems. Within the Caribbean region, rural communities depend heavily on wetland resources, however attitudes and beliefs of these communities regarding the impacts of oil and gas drilling are ambiguous. This paper assesses factors influencing attitudes and behaviours among rural communities of the Nariva Swamp (Trinidad) toward oil development. Interviews and structured questionnaires indicated varying levels of beliefs, concerns and behaviours based on distance of the village from the swamp, gender and type of livelihood the respondent engaged in. Villagers who lived in closer proximity to the swamp demonstrated the greatest health and environmental concerns, pro-environmental beliefs and behaviours, probably due to their greater dependence on the resource for livelihoods. Females illustrated a higher affinity for altruistic and egoistic concerns, while males, engaged in outdoor employment and recreational opportunities, demonstrated greater biospheric concerns and environmental behaviours. Given their intimacy with the natural environment, farmers engaged in environmental behaviours to a greater extent than other groups within the villages. The varying levels of beliefs, concerns and behaviours among villagers toward drilling should be given full consideration by public officials, industrial managers and other decision makers when addressing resource management.

Keywords

behaviourenvironmental attitudeoil and gas drillingrural communitiesTrinidadwetlands
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , March 2009 , pp. 14 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2009

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