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).
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]
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]
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]
^ abcdShand, Eden (January 2008). "CV". Environmental Management and Planning Associates Limited. Archived from the original on 2005-04-08.
^ abShand, Eden Arthur (1968). The development of the Japanese market for Pacific Northwest lumber : A historical survey (Thesis). Vancouver: University of British Columbia. doi:10.14288/1.0102406. hdl:2429/36231.
^"About Us". Citizens for Conservation Trinidad & Tobago. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020.