Eden Shand

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Eden Shand
Shand in 2007
Member of Parliament
In office
12 January 1987 – 19 November 1991
Prime MinisterA. N. R. Robinson
ConstituencySt. Ann's West
Personal details
Born
Eden Arthur Shand

(1939-09-14)14 September 1939
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Political partyNational Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR)
Alma materUniversity of Aberdeen
University of British Columbia

Eden Arthur Shand (14 September 1939 – 20 January 2021) was a Trinidadian environmentalist and politician. He worked toward establishing environmental standards in Trinidad and Tobago.

Shand served as an MP for St. Ann's West (1987–1991) under the National Alliance for Reconstruction. He was a Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Food Production, Marine Exploitation, Forestry and the Environment (1987–1988) and the Minister of External Affairs and International Trade (1988–1991).

Early life

Shand was born on 14 September 1939. He received a

BSc (Hons) in Forestry[1] from the University of Aberdeen in 1963, and an MBA from the University of British Columbia in 1968.[2]

Shand worked in the Trinidadian government Division of Forestry from 1963 to 1965. After finishing his MBA, he worked as a forest economist in Vancouver from 1968 to 1972, then returned to Trinidad.[1] In 1979,[3] Shand was one of the founding members of Citizens For Conservation.[4]

In the 1980s, Shand hosted a youth-focused talk show called Feedback on Trinidad and Tobago Television.[4]

Politics

In 1986, Shand won the St. Ann's West seat in the House of Representatives as a candidate of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) party,[5] defeating the incumbent candidate of the People's National Movement (PNM).[6] The newly-founded NAR became the first opposition party to win a national parliamentary election since independence in 1962.[7]

Shand was sworn in on 12 January 1987. He was initially appointed a Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Food Production, Marine Exploitation, Forestry and the Environment.[8] However, he was removed from this portfolio in 1988 after proposing restrictions on deliberate forest burning.[9][10] He then became the Minister of External Affairs and International Trade.[4] Together with Sylvia Kacal and other conservationists, he founded the Caribbean Forest Conservation Association (CFCA) in 1988.[11]

Shand was one of the MPs held hostage during the Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt in 1990.[4]

St. Ann's West was merged with Port of Spain North for the 1991 elections. Shand did not stand for reelection.[12]

Later activism

After leaving Parliament, Shand gained certification as an Associate Environmental Auditor from the Environmental Auditors Registration Association (UK).[4] He set up a consultancy, Environmental Management and Planning Associates Limited.[1] Shand also became the chairman of the Caribbean Forest Conservation Association; during his tenure, the organisation began setting up conservation parks.[13]

Shand campaigned against projects to build over the Queen's Park Savannah. During a 1999 sit-in, builders attempting to pave over a section of the park dumped a truckload of gravel on Shand. He was excavated alive, but had lasting injuries.[4] He opposed a 2006 government proposal to build a stadium at the park,[14] and exposed other cases where construction projects had been approved without securing environmental assessments.[15][16]

Shand wrote articles in the Trinidad Express and the Trinidad Guardian where he critiqued the governance structure of the state Environment Management Agency.[17] He was chairman of Trinidad and Tobago's Earth Charter National Committee.[18]

Personal life

Shand had five children.[19] His two younger children were from his marriage to Mary Schorse, an American social scientist.[1] Shand and Schorse co-founded the Tropical Re-Leaf Foundation.[20]

Death

Shand died on 20 January 2021 at the age of 81 after a long illness.[4] The House of Representatives paid tribute to Shand at the beginning of the 27 January session.[21]

Electoral history

1986 Trinidad and Tobago general election: St. Ann's West[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Alliance for Reconstruction Eden Shand 6,305
PNM John Stanley Donaldson 6,196
NJAC Anum Bankole 452
PPM Solange Bailey 68
Total valid votes 13,021
Rejected ballots 68
Turnout 13,089
Registered electors 24,339
National Alliance for Reconstruction gain from PNM Swing

Partial bibliography

Books

  • The Development of the Japanese Market for Pacific Northwest Lumber (1968, thesis) [2]
  • The Estates Within: A Docu-Drama (1992) [22]

Articles

References

  1. ^ a b c d Shand, Eden (January 2008). "CV". Environmental Management and Planning Associates Limited. Archived from the original on 2005-04-08.
  2. ^
    hdl:2429/36231
    .
  3. ^ "About Us". Citizens for Conservation Trinidad & Tobago. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Former NAR minister Eden Shand dies". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. 2021-01-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  5. ^ a b "Report of the E&BC on the Parliamentary Elections 1986 (15th December 1986)". Elections And Boundaries Commission. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  6. ^ a b "Report of the E&BC on the Parliamentary Elections 1981 (9th November 1981)". Elections And Boundaries Commission. Archived from the original on 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  7. OCLC 58051010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  8. ^ "Mr. Eden Shand, MP". Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  9. ^ Gibbings, Wesley (1998-03-24). "ENVIRONMENT-TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Surviving the Bush Fire Season". Inter Press Service. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  10. ^ Leach, Melissa; Fairhead, James (2001). "Science, policy and national parks in Trinidad and Tobago" (PDF). Forest Science and Forest Policy: Knowledge, Institutions and Policy Processes. Institute of Development Studies.
  11. ^ Hilton, Anne (2003-11-16). "Sylvia Kacal an extraordinary life". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday Archives. Archived from the original on 2021-04-26. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  12. ^ "Report of the E&BC on the Parliamentary Elections 1991 (16th December 1991)". Elections And Boundaries Commission. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  13. ^ Gibbings, Wesley (1997-04-08). "TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO-ENVIRONMENT: Illegal Logging Taking a Toll". Inter Press Service. Archived from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  14. ^ Sheppard, Suzanne (12 March 2006). "Stop Savannah construction". Trinidad & Tobago Newsday – via trinidadandtobagonews.com.
  15. ^ "Mystery hotel". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday Archives. 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  16. ^ Richards, Peter (2000-08-24). "ENVIRONMENT-TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Conservationists Halt Ferry Port Project". Inter Press Service. Archived from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  17. ^ Paddington, Luke (1999). An appraisal of environmental management in Trinidad and Tobago (MA Thesis). McGill University.
  18. ^ "Earth Charter National Committee". members.tripod.com. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  19. ^ "Eden Shand". www.guardian.co.tt. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  20. ^ Lum Lock, Alana; Geoghegan, Tighe (2006). "Rewarding community efforts to protect watersheds: Case study of Fondes Amandes, St. Ann's, Trinidad and Tobago" (PDF). CANARI Who Pays for Water Project (3).
  21. ^ "Unofficial Hansard - House of Representatives" (PDF). Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. 27 January 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-23.
  22. OCLC 26872995
    .
  23. ^ Shand, Eden (1992-07-01). "Global Warming and the Caribbean". Caribbean Beat Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  24. ISSN 1029-3299. Archived from the original
    on 27 September 2020.
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