Our Trust Objectives

Our Trust Objectives

By a deed dated 27th October 1967, the Asa Wright Nature Centre Trust was created, and Spring Hill Estate was conveyed to the Trustees by Mrs. Asa Wright. This event was the outcome of an international fund-raising effort by foreign, primarily American, and local naturalists, all friends of Asa Wright, who formed the first Board of Management of the AWNC. These people, to whom Trinidad & Tobago owes a debt of gratitude for establishing the AWNC, were –

  • Russel Mason, Florida Audubon Society, USA
  • Erma “Jonnie” Fisk, USA, Naturalist & Author, USA
  • Don R. Eckelberry, Artist & Ornithologist, USA
  • William Preston, USA
  • Alexander Fry, USA
  • Dr. Joseph Copeland, USA
  • Dr. David W. Snow, Director of Research, British Trust for Ornithology, United Kingdom
  • George Black, Naturalist & Company Director, Trinidad & Tobago
  • Curtis Wharton, Barrister-at-Law, Trinidad & Tobago
  • Dr. Victor Quesnel, Biochemist & Naturalist, UWI, St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago
  • Dr. Brian Ainscough, Acarologist, Department of Zoology, UWI, St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago
  • John Dunstan, Engineer, Field Naturalist Club, Trinidad & Tobago
  • Richard ffrench, Schoolmaster & Ornithologist, Field Naturalist Club, Trinidad & Tobago
  • Hollis Murray, Conservator of Forests, Trinidad & Tobago

The objectives of the pioneering Trust that they created, something which is known today as a “land conservation trust”, are set out in the Trust Deed as follows –

1. The protection in perpetuity of Spring Hill Estate as a Wildlife Sanctuary and Nature Centre.

2. The continued operation and improved efficiency of the Centre’s agricultural potential in such a manner as to provide an ecologically sound relationship between the natural habitat and its agriculturally developed portions.

3. The continuance and extension of the scientific and educational potential of the Centre through the encouraged use of its facilities by amateur, student and professional naturalists with special emphasis on maintaining a wide international interest in the Centre.

4. The furtherance of the preservation of the natural flora and fauna of Trinidad and Tobago by encouraging the study of natural history by residents and visitors.

5. The carrying on of any other business related to the above.