Successful conservation requires a change in the attitudes of the people who have the potential to make a difference in the life of the plant or animal one is aiming to conserve. Understanding this, the PSG is involved in several aspects of education and awareness raising. In addition to this website, the group also gives talks to interested groups, is involved in workshops and is in the process of developing teaching aids, games and activities that can be used to spread information on the Pawi, its habitat and what individuals can do to help conserve this special bird.
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The Trinidad and Tobago government channel NCC TV aired a discussion on the Pawi on 16 January 2008, on the magazine show "10 to 12 with Allyson". The show featured an interview between host Allyson Hennessy, the chair of the board of the Asa Wright Nature Centre and director of the Guardian Life Wildlife Fund Dr Carol James, and Alësha Naranjit representing the Pawi Study Group as its co-chair. The Guardian Life Wildlife Fund began a special appeal in 2007 for their action plan "Come let we find the Pawi", and the Asa Wright poster on the Pawi was featured on the show. The ecology and conservation of the Pawi were discussed, during which still photographs and a short video by Kerrie Naranjit of the PSG were shown.
There have been several projects looking at the range of the Pawi, its habitat use, feeding ecology, lure and capture techniques. The current and largest of these projects is being done in conjunction with an M.Phil. student of the University of the West Indies working on the behaviour and ecology of the Pawi, sponsored by the Environmental Management Authority. For more information see: Pawi M.Phil. project.
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Good health of individual Pawi is an important contributor to the survival of the species. This aspect of conservation is of special concern with respect to Pawi as, due to their low numbers and restricted geographic range, an outbreak of disease may easily affect the entire species.
The Health and Captive Study Group of the PSG has been developing and tested handling protocols for health monitoring of wild Pawi with the help of the Emperor Valley Zoo and its captive Pawi. There have also been opportunistic health checks on the droppings of wild Pawi. These droppings have been tested for the presence of fungi, bacteria and parasites which may be infecting the Pawi. We are happy to say that nothing serious has been found which may jeopardize the Pawis health.
The group is also interested in testing the health of any poultry in the surrounding habitat as Pawi, being closely related to chickens and ducks, may be at risk of infection from any diseased poultry with which they share their habitat. This poultry health check will be done in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture, and it is hoped that keeping the local poultry healthy will lower the risk of wild Pawi being affected by disease.
The GIS Group of the PSG uses data on the locations of recorded sightings and a Geographic Information System to predict where suitable Pawi habitats exists in Trinidad. There is considerable information available on climate and vegetation, especially from the biological survey of the Matura National Park in the eastern part of the Northern Range, to allow sightings of Pawi to be related to particular habitats and vegetation types. The distribution pattern of the species can then be used to predict the total suitable range, which may be relevant to designation of new protected areas, or future translocations and the eventual establishment of a second sub-population of the species on Trinidad.
Let us know if you see any Pawi, how many you see, where they were and what they were doing.
All sightings are potentially valuable in our research aimed at saving the Pawi.
Please report sightings online:
Online form
[Not functional at present due to demise of geocities.com]
About the Pawi : Contact us : How you can help : Projects and activities : PSG home page