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Before it became one of Trinidad's best-known conservation centres, the property now called Asa Wright was a cocoa, coffee and citrus estate named Spring Hill. The estate sits in the Arima Valley in the Northern Range, about 350 metres above sea level. Asa Guðmundsdóttir Wright and her husband, Newcome Wright, bought it in 1946 after moving to Trinidad for his health. The couple continued agricultural production, but the surrounding forest and birdlife increasingly attracted naturalists. Nearby research activity led by zoologist William Beebe brought scientists and visitors into the valley, and Asa began welcoming guests at Spring Hill. Those visitors found a landscape with hummingbirds, toucans, bellbirds, manakins and many other species. The property also provided access to Dunston Cave, home to a breeding colony of nocturnal oilbirds. As Asa grew older, friends and supporters worked with local conservationists to protect the estate rather than allow its forest to be broken up or cleared. Funds were raised to purchase Spring Hill, and the Asa Wright Nature Centre was established in 1967. The transition was significant. A working estate shaped by colonial agriculture became a conservation trust, research site and nature destination. In 1975, the New York Zoological Society transferred the neighbouring Simla field station to the centre, strengthening its scientific role. Over time, the organisation expanded its forest holdings in the Arima and Aripo valleys. The protected landscape helps connect habitat across part of the Northern Range while supporting education, research and birdwatching. The centre's history does not erase Spring Hill's agricultural past. Cocoa and coffee helped shape the property, its buildings and the human relationships that developed there. Conservation grew from that existing landscape rather than beginning on untouched ground. Asa Wright's lasting importance lies in that transformation. A private estate became a place where forest could be protected, studied and shared, demonstrating how land once managed for crops could acquire a new national and international purpose.
Before it became one of Trinidad’s best-known conservation centres, the property now called Asa Wright was a cocoa, coffee and citrus estate named Spring Hill.
The estate sits in the Arima Valley in the Northern Range, about 350 metres above sea level. Asa Guðmundsdóttir Wright and her husband, Newcome Wright, bought it in 1946 after moving to Trinidad for his health.
The couple continued agricultural production, but the surrounding forest and birdlife increasingly attracted naturalists. Nearby research activity led by zoologist William Beebe brought scientists and visitors into the valley, and Asa began welcoming guests at Spring Hill.
Those visitors found a landscape with hummingbirds, toucans, bellbirds, manakins and many other species. The property also provided access to Dunston Cave, home to a breeding colony of nocturnal oilbirds.
As Asa grew older, friends and supporters worked with local conservationists to protect the estate rather than allow its forest to be broken up or cleared. Funds were raised to purchase Spring Hill, and the Asa Wright Nature Centre was established in 1967.
The transition was significant. A working estate shaped by colonial agriculture became a conservation trust, research site and nature destination. In 1975, the New York Zoological Society transferred the neighbouring Simla field station to the centre, strengthening its scientific role.
Over time, the organisation expanded its forest holdings in the Arima and Aripo valleys. The protected landscape helps connect habitat across part of the Northern Range while supporting education, research and birdwatching.
The centre’s history does not erase Spring Hill’s agricultural past. Cocoa and coffee helped shape the property, its buildings and the human relationships that developed there. Conservation grew from that existing landscape rather than beginning on untouched ground.
Asa Wright’s lasting importance lies in that transformation. A private estate became a place where forest could be protected, studied and shared, demonstrating how land once managed for crops could acquire a new national and international purpose.
News Desk is the editorial publishing account for Tringlobe Media News, covering breaking news, public affairs, entertainment, community developments and regional stories across Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and internationally.
