THE TURTLE VILLAGE TRUST, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO:SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH STRATEGIC BRIDGING, GREEN ALLIANCE AND ENVIROPRENEURSHIP

摘要

The Turtle Village Trust (TVT) is a consortium of stakeholders includingthe Trinidad and Tobago government, the villages of the North East coast of theisland and BHP Billiton, a major multinational corporation with operations in thatvicinity. The central objectives of the TVT are conservation of the large populationsof seasonally visiting leatherback turtles and the socio-economic enhancement of theNorth East region which has historically consisted of poor and rural communities,largely dependent on agriculture and fisheries livelihoods. This paper analyses themotives, incentives, costs and benefits of each of the key stakeholders in building,operating and expanding this collaborative sustainable development and conservationmodel. We discuss these relationships and stakeholder dynamics in the theoreticalcontexts of green alliances which focus on mutual benefits between partners; enviropreneurshipwhich emphasises non-confrontational stakeholder engagement andoperational effectiveness; and strategic bridging that establishes operational linkages,provides shared resources and avoids duplicity of efforts among partners. Emergingfrom this analysis is a sustainable best practice model for government-privatesector-NGO collaboration which can be applied to conservation and socio-economicdevelopment efforts in other developing countries.