Original subtitles

Dream of the Caribbean and you might imagine palm-fringed islands

and endless sunshine.

But stretching over a million square miles,

with over 7,000 islands,

this is the home of extraordinary natural wonders.

I want to show you the wild heart of the Caribbean.

PARROT SQUAWKS

HE GRUNTS

MONKEY HOWLS

I'm Liz Bonnin.

The Caribbean shaped my childhood

and inspired me to explore the natural world.

Oh!

It's a place of incredible variety.

That was mind-blowing!

'I be traveling across the Caribbean's

four distinct regions...

This place is so surreal.

...to celebrate its astonishing and awe-inspiring creatures.

Everything about this island speaks to highly sophisticated evolution.

Their remarkable habitats are under threat.

I'll meet the people protecting these precious ecosystems...

It's just a beautiful thing -

to watch an animal going back to its home.

...and discover the relationship between life, land and sea

that you can find nowhere else on Earth.

There's more to this place than meets the eye - so much more.

I'm ending my incredible journey around the Caribbean

on its most southerly island, Trinidad.

Just off the coast of Venezuela,

it's part of the dual-island country

of Trinidad and Tobago, my ancestral home.

Can I get coconut water, please?

Coconut water tastes like my childhood here in the Caribbean,

and it just brings me back.

I've loved this place. I remember it so well.

My great-aunts lived down there,

my father worked over there,

my mum was born here.

And even though I've never lived here, I feel like I've spent

a lot of my childhood growing up here.

These special times spent in Trinidad made me fall in love

with the natural world.

Just outside the capital city of Port of Spain

lies spectacular bio diverse landscapes,

home to remarkable and unique wildlife of all kinds.

And there's still so much I haven't seen,

including Trinidad's elusive primates.

Trinidad is the only Caribbean island

home to native species of monkeys.

Red howler monkeys and white-fronted capuchins

are extremely social, intelligent animals.

Both species live in troops in the forest canopy.

It's thought they have each evolved into their own subspecies here

that can be found nowhere else on Earth.

Very few people have ever seen them, let alone filmed them.

I hear there's a lot of bugs in here.

Yeah, lots of mosquitoes,

so...insect repellent!

I've joined a team of nature enthusiasts

to head deep into Bush Bush Wildlife Sanctuary -

32 square miles of tropical forest, savanna and swamp,

and home to over 200 animal species.

Hi, everybody.

WHISPERS: Check out your camera.

Are you taking great pictures today?

Yeah. Maybe I should stick with you.

It's really nice to meet you all.

The Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists' Club

is a group of volunteers who, between them, share a vast knowledge

of this forest and its wildlife.

They're game wardens, schoolteachers, farmers,

office workers, and a ten-year-old who is particularly passionate

about the birds of Trinidad.

Now, your dad says that I can name a bird

and you'll find it in the book like this, but I don't believe him.

Can I try you out? Yeah.

I'm going to go for an easy one -

the national bird, scarlet ibis.

Scarlet ibis. Scarlet ibis. Boom!

So, do you know all of these birds...?

Yeah. You know, all of the birds of Trinidad?

You can tell me... Not really all, because they discovered new species.

I don't got that much information of them.

Fair play, Xavier!

I'm here to help the club conduct the first-ever complete survey

of the monkey population here.

Biologists Laura Baboolal and Sinead Stewart are leading the research.

So, there's a lot of work to be done.

Is this what you plan to do for the rest of your life,

to work in conservation? I really love working with tropical wildlife

and tropical ecosystems,

like, yeah, this is my dream.

Dan tends to lead the way.

He's got his eyes peeled on everything.

The way he observes the forest is really quite impressive.

I'm sure we're going to find lots of other things on the way,

including poisonous snakes.

A self-taught botanist,

Dan Jaggernauth has studied Trinidad's plant life for decades.

HE WHISTLES

It's called Hernandia son or a, or toporite,

or the whistling fruit of the forest.

Wait, so the wind will make it whistle, too?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the wind.

When the wind blows here... The monkeys will hear -

there's fruit, the wind is blowing through the fruit?

Yeah. They love that toporite tree.

It attracts howlers AND capuchins?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Keep blowing it.

HE WHISTLES

With a bit of luck,

Dan's whistling should coax the monkeys out,

lured by the sound of their favourite musical tree.

So there's a singing tree in the forest

where there are white-fronted capuchins that munch on the leaves.

I mean, Disney couldn't make a better scene if it tried.

Guys, guys, monkeys...

BRANCHES SNAP

WHISPERS: I can hear the breaking of branches.

Oh!

Howler monkey!

Red howler monkeys are one of the largest species of primates

in the Caribbean and the Americas,

and the largest of all the howler monkeys.

I just got a glimpse of it.

I can't even see its face.

All I can see is the side of its russet fur.

Are there two? Yeah. There are two.

There are two.

And you can spot that one's tail wrapped around the branch

it's sitting on.

And they're called prehensile tails.

It's because they use those tails a bit like an extra Limb.

It helps balance as they're moving through the trees.

It helps them when they're hanging on to something.

And it's wrapped beautifully.

It's slightly paler than the rest of its body,

and it's wrapped beautifully around the branch.

They even use them to hang upside down as they're feeding on leaves

or fruits or flowers.

And they are highly social animals,

so it's quite likely that the troop are close by.

Led by a dominant male,

the monkeys live in small family troops of three to ten individuals.

At this time of year would there be babies? When do they mate?

Well, Trinidad howler monkeys - just all the year round.

There's enough food. Why not?

Yeah. So we can probably see some babies if we're lucky.

Oh! There's a small one!

Yeah, I just saw it.

I can't even believe that's just happened for real.

A small...a young... definitely a baby.. just walked...

Oh, I lost it. Oh, it's just up there.

There it is, there it is.

Mothers care for their babies for a year, teaching them

all the survival skills they need

before they're ready to form a troop of their own.

What are the threats to the howler monkeys?

I would probably say habitat loss, but, luckily, in Trinidad,

we have places like this that... You know, we're protecting it.

We have to do a lot more research to find out

the exact numbers and, like, the population in here.

But I would say that almost every single time I've come,

I've heard them. OK. So I think that's a good indicator.

How often do you get a sight like this?

Every time you come in the forest? Not every time.

I think you all brought some luck.

CHUCKLING

I can't believe how lucky we are, then.

50 miles long and 40 miles wide,

Trinidad is one of the most bio diverse islands on Earth.

Ever since I was a kid coming here,

I used to look at the ranges to the north

and the thick forests in it and just marvel at them.

It's really relatively recently in geological terms

that Trinidad separated from Venezuela.

It's just a chunk of South America.

And so all of this incredible biodiversity

came with the island of Trinidad and then continued to evolve on its own,

and that's why it's got a whole raft

of unique endemic species or subspecies found only here,

nowhere else on Earth.

The red howler monkeys disappear into the canopy,

and our search continues,

this time for the even more elusive and rare

white-fronted capuchins.

Threatened by poaching and habitat loss,

there are just 50 left in the whole of Trinidad,

so this is no easy task.

So we're under a cannonball tree -

for obvious reasons!

If a cannonball fruit falls on your head, you'll know all about it.

That's why it's called a cannonball fruit.

Sinead and schoolteacher Savira Ali are looking for signs of capuchins

amongst the dropped fruit.

So... Take a whiff.

Do I need to take a whiff...?

No, it's all right.

Well, it's kind of, like... a bit bitter.

So you guys have both been studying

the white-fronted capuchins. Is that right?

And talk me through what you've observed with this fruit and...

What's inside it?

OK, so, well, this one?

Can we smash it open or no?

Yeah, we could, actually.

Oh! Yeah.

Oh! This one is rotten.

This has some insects and stuff feeding on it.

So if you look closely at...

You're a brave woman for picking that up. That is something else.

...you will see the grub.

So once it rots on the ground, it is food

for a whole myriad of different species.

The insects move in and they're feeding on the rotten fruit? Mm-hm.

OK. But what did you observe when it comes to the capuchins?

There was one day when we came and we saw the capuchins.

We saw them going down and picking up something and then coming back up

and, like, picking through and eating it.

They would knock it on the tree,

one they find that they were near to,

to kind of open the... open the cannonball.

I'm getting the whiff now. Sorry.

I didn't get the full whiff!

These white-fronted capuchins have learned

that instead of eating the fruit when it first drops from the tree,

they can leave it to rot and feed on the protein-rich meal worms

that grow inside.

This is what they would pick off and...enjoy.

THEY LAUGH

Mm-mm-mm!

Thank you for introducing me to that stink bomb.

That's going to stay in my nose for the day.

For me, that's what science is all about.

What people who are local to an area,

who are immersed in it, observe is invaluable information.

We've been trekking through Bush Bush all morning.

We're still on the lookout.

Honestly, I have no idea what time it is.

I've lost track of it.

Venturing deeper into the forest, more of its incredible wildlife

is on display, if you know where to look.

Ooh! Ooh!

What species of bat is that?

It's on the family of sac-winged bats.

Sac-winged bats get their name

from the small pouches on their wings.

Filled with urine and gland excretions,

males waft the scent during displays to attract females

or ward off competitors.

Definitely...little monkey hand might have reached into that.

But the capuchins stay out of sight.

Most active during cooler morning temperatures,

our chances of continuing the survey fade as the midday heat approaches.

That way? Yeah. Yeah.

He's big.

So that's capuchin.

They're so close.

MAN WHISTLES

WHISPERS: You can hear them, you can hear them.

MAN WHISTLES

SHE GASPS

Look. Yes!

SHE GASPS

It's enough to make your heart stop beating!

Here, here, here.

Here, here.

MAN WHISTLES

WHISTLING CONTINUES

There he is, there he is, there he is!

White-fronted capuchin.

There he is.

Ooh.

WHISTLING CONTINUES

There are only 50 mature adults left on the entire planet,

because they only exist here in Trinidad and here in Bush Bush.

We don't even know how many there are.

And to see one back lit against this most beautiful environment

is just beyond words.

The capuchins live in troops of 10 to 35,

and, like howlers, one dominant male leads the females and babies,

so the rest of this group isn't far.

And they're calling to each other.

They're highly social, incredibly intelligent animals.

They've got a really high brain-to-body ratio.

That's super-important

when it comes to estimating the intelligence of these animals.

And they're known to use tools in the sense of using leaves

as cups for water, breaking open fruits and seeds with rocks.

These are so rare, so precious,

so unique to Trinidad.

And I've just set eyes on one.

Spotting one of the rarest animals of the Caribbean

is the perfect start to my time in Trinidad.

To be here... I am really proud to have Trinidadian blood in me,

and to be able to share the story

of places like this with everyone.

This club is really special.

They know far more than I could ever learn from a textbook,

observing things that haven't even been documented.

A two-hour drive from the forest of Bush Bush,

and I've arrived in central Trinidad.

Here, monoculture farms of sugar cane and tropical fruits

dominate the landscape.

This type of agriculture uses high amounts of chemical fertiliser,

depletes the soil of nutrients,

and leaves little to no habitat for wildlife.

But a pioneering farm here has been working WITH nature

instead of against it.

Flower farmer Erle Rahaman-Noronha has spent decades

nurturing and cultivating his 35-acre farm.

Hi, I'm Liz. Hiy, Liz. Nice to meet you.

It's very nice to meet you, too. Welcome to Wa Samaki.

Let's take a walk around. Thank you. What's it called?

Wa Samaki. Wa Samaki.

Erle grows tropical flowers for local markets and shops

across the country.

Originally, 25 years ago, when we bought this,

it was a citrus estate, so there was just citrus everywhere.

But there was a lot of chemicals being used to maintain the citrus,

and so we started planting trees.

More and more wildlife, started showing up.

We've just kind of gone from there.

So it's about living on the site, making your income from the site,

but not destroying the site.

By planting trees and encouraging more wildlife

back on the farm,

everything thrives, including his flowers.

What can I help you with today, then?

Well, we have a few flowers that I need to cut for an order,

so if you want to help me, we can go and cut some flowers.

This one's ready to cut.

You get down as low as possible.

You cut one out, and then you snip off the leaves.

So it's this here, right? Yep.

I nearly went for the flower. Could you imagine?

HE LAUGHS Over there. High up?

Right there. Yeah, that's great.

And the next one.

This is what pays bills,

so every week we get an income from it.

The plants themselves don't require a lot of chemicals on them,

and they support the wildlife that's within the areas.

So what we practise is really something called chop and drop,

where... Chop and drop? Yeah. Chop and drop.

You chop all of this organic matter and it just goes back into the soil,

and as it breaks down, it encourages a lot of stuff.

Healthy soils, enriched by this diverse habitat,

and the pruned vegetation

result in crops that are more resistant to pests and disease.

Erle knew from the start

how important a balanced environment was for keeping pests at bay.

When we bought the place, we had a huge problem with rats. OK.

There were rats everywhere, and, really, the previous owner

used to kill all the snakes.

So by us just leaving the snakes alone...

Cos the snakes can eat the rats. The snakes eat the rats.

So we don't have a rat problem any more.

We have plenty more snakes, but we hardly ever see them.

With the snakes controlling the rats,

in turn, birds of prey are drawn back here

and keep the snake numbers in check.

When given the chance, nature bounces back quickly,

delivering all sorts of benefits to wildlife and humans alike.

And it seems the animals keep coming.

What's shown up in the past that sort of threw you a curve ball?

Most interesting that showed up was an otter.

SHE GASPS

I just happened to be walking by the stream one day and I saw this wave

going up the stream, which didn't make sense,

and I just stood there and this otter popped out.

Neotropical river otters are endangered,

with only a few hundred remaining in Trinidad,

but Erle's farm could provide a much-needed haven for them.

After that, it was kind of like a sign

that we're doing stuff right here. HE LAUGHS

Incredible! So, since then, we've put in more ponds

to try and attract the otters, because they get hunted

all over Trinidad,

and a lot of their environment has been destroyed.

Safe in Erle's rivers and ponds,

these top predators would undoubtedly contribute

to the balance of the entire ecosystem.

Erle's farm is now also home to armadillos, agoutis

and sac-winged bats,

who live amongst a variety of vegetation,

from native palms to dwarf banana plants.

They're all part of the complex ecological cycles

that Erle has coaxed back to health.

It's all about letting nature do its work.

Letting nature do its work.

There's something incredibly satisfying about just helping you,

even just a tiny bit, to let that happen here.

Even insects that most farmers consider to be destructive pests

are left to carry out important roles here.

So, these are leaf cutter ants. Look at that.

It always amazes me

how big the pieces of leaf

they can carry. Yes, so they will go and forage,

and, like, they've taken all the leaves off of this.

Look at that, look at that!

Right, so they've stripped this off completely

and they carry it off to their nest

and then they farm with it, basically.

They'll grow fungus, and then they feed on that fungus.

In nests that can span 30 metres,

the leaf cutter ants feed the shards of leaves to a fungus

that then serves as food for the ants and their brood.

Relying on each other to survive,

it's another stunning example

of the mutually beneficial relationships taking place

all across the natural world.

You're farming, they're farming, everybody's farming!

HE CHUCKLES Yes, there's millions of them,

and they're performing their role in the environment.

Supposedly, they're pruners,

so they don't destroy an area in general,

they will selectively take things that need pruning a lot.

So they keep vegetation in check,

and they use it to feed a fungus that then feeds them?

Yeah.

Hard at work. I love it!

Life is thriving and doing what it's supposed to do.

There's life surrounding us everywhere at Wa Samaki. Fantastic.

And that's what we enjoy.

Erle's farm now grows 20 varieties of root crops

and a large collection of greens,

as well as selling over 1,000 tropical flowers each week.

By harnessing the power of the natural world,

it's now one of the most productive farms in the area.

I've only just arrived, and I am buzzing,

not only at what I'm seeing everywhere around me,

but how Erle approaches his business.

He's producing produce here,

but in a way that most people tend to have forgotten.

I mean, look at this. This is his farm.

When is the last time you saw a farm that looked anything like this?

And that's really exciting.

For Erle, dedication to sustainable farming also means putting an end

to longstanding and destructive farming practices.

So, this is an area

that we've been trying to plant trees for the longest while,

but it keeps burning.

Traditionally, what happens is people start clearing the land

and then they burn it.

Dating back to the colonial plantation era,

slash-and-burn is a cheap way to destroy so-called pests

and clear the land for the next planting season.

For the 25 years I've been here, I've fought 25 fires.

One a year? At least. At least. At least one a year it's happened...

...that certain sections of the farm,

10 years', 15 years' worth of work has just disappeared in a day.

And one of my staff has been killed in a fire here

so we are very careful around fires. That happened...

Erle, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that.

And so, yeah, I've had to physically carry someone out

that's passed away from fighting the fires.

Do you ever want to give up?

Every time we've had one of those bad days,

something's popped up on the farm that kind of inspires you,

because there's just so much happening

that it keeps getting you to do the next day.

And then...

It's just having people visit the farm and being inspired

that actually keeps us going as well.

As he continues to develop this place, Erle hopes to inspire

more Trinidadians to reconnect with farming and with nature.

Both slavery and indentured labourers,

when they came to Trinidad, were forced to work the land.

A lot of them now tell their kids,

"Don't do anything with farming,

"because that's something that we did in the past

"and was really hard lab our,

"and go become a doctor or a lawyer or something like that

"that'll pay lots of money."

If you go around a lot of affluent people's houses now, you'll just see

that they've concreted everything,

like, there's not even a blade of grass growing,

which shows their disconnection, or they're trying to get away

from some of the issues in the past that...

...are all based on agriculture.

Because when I started 25 years ago, everyone said,

"Well, that's just a dream. You're going to fail.