The Foundation for Heritage Preservation & Legacy Creation

Project Status:  

Ongoing

Project Objective:  

To promote indigenous led climate adaptation and resilience through an eco, edu-cultural interactive storytelling & workshop/ children’s book series

 Project Description:  

Origin of “Clowning Around with Climate Change”

Clowning Around with Climate Change was born from my lifelong work as *Redzi the Trini Clown with plenty Tobago Flavour*, an edu-cultural character created in 1996 to inspire children through laughter, learning, and love for the environment.

Redzi is an acronym for Real Educational Discoveries Zooming in on the Indigenous.

The series evolved from years of community outreach and storytelling with children across Trinidad and Tobago, where I witnessed their curiosity about nature and concern for the changing world around them.

Rooted in Indigenous values of respect for all living things, the series uses Redzi’s playful and relatable voice to help children understand complex environmental issues – like flooding, coral bleaching, forest fires, and plastic pollution – in ways that encourage empathy, action, and hope.

 The Foundation for Heritage Preservation & Legacy Creation (TFHP & LC) Heritage Learning Resource Centre & Little Tales from the Warao World/ Clowning Around with Climate Change focuses on empowering communities through culture, education, and climate action

The Heritage Learning Resource Centre, Nature Park & Animal Sanctuary in Santa Rosa Heights, Arima, is a community-driven hub for environmental education, cultural preservation, and wildlife conservation. Founded under The Foundation for Heritage Preservation & Legacy Creation (1996, registered 2008), the centre integrates Indigenous knowledge systems with modern conservation strategies to build climate resilience and environmental stewardship in Trinidad and Tobago.

Through its programmes, the centre advances the six pillars of Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) below:

• Education: Storytelling, cultural curriculum development, and eco-literacy tools.
• Training: Youth and community workshops in wildlife care, seed banking, and sustainable practices.
• Public Awareness: Books, workshops, and outreach campaigns highlighting conservation and climate action.
• Participation: Engagement of schools, families, and community groups in hands-on activities.
• Access to Information: Research dissemination, workshops, and multimedia learning resources.
• International Cooperation: Partnerships with global Indigenous and environmental education networks.

Key Initiatives

Wildlife Rehabilitation & Conservation

• Rescue and sanctuary care for non-releasable wildlife (including the manicou “Willie” and other animal ambassadors).
• Breeding and conservation of critically endangered tortoises sacred to Indigenous peoples, as well as all local wildlife, especially those significant to the first peoples. We focus on seed dispersing species such as squirrel, agouti, manicou and all indigenous turtle species that inhabit our forests and riverine ecosystems – mud turtles, neo-tropical wood turtles and gibba turtles.
• Advocacy against habitat destruction, poaching, and climate impacts on biodiversity.

Little Tales from the Warao World (10-Book Toddler Series)

• A series of edu-cultural children’s books introducing young readers to Caribbean wildlife, climate change, and Indigenous storytelling. It also features real animal ambassadors (parrots, tortoise, turtles).