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***ACTION ALERT!!!***
Bimini Mangroves Still Being Bull Dozed Note: The following sample letter is from Global Response. We ask you to please send letters to the Prime Minister of the Bahamas. |
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The Rt. Hon. Perry Gladstone
Christie, Prime Minister Honorable Prime Minister Christie, I am very concerned about your administration's authorization for the construction of the Bimini Bay Resort and Casino and the environmental damage it will cause to irreplaceable mangrove and marine resources if it is allowed to continue at its proposed scale. Like many concerned citizens around the world, I have been following the extensive international print, electronic and television media attention focused on this issue (e.g. in the The Washington Post, The Guardian, Miami Herald, NBC 6) and I recently saw the March 2, 2006 issue of the Nassau Guardian, which carried an article "Bimini Bay to be Scaled Down". In this article, I was delighted to see that the Bimini Bay Resort issue was the subject of parliamentary debate and that both the developer and members of your administration have acknowledged that the scale of the project is inappropriate because it would cause significant damage to "eco-sensitive land" that the developer has now pledged to "return to the government and to the people of Bimini and The Bahamas". In the coming months, your administration will make decisions about this project that will have long-term and far-reaching effects on the future of Bimini's unique marine environment and tourism industry. With that in mind, I urge you to consider implementing the following measures to significantly scale-back this potentially devastating development: 1. Limit the Bimini Bay Resort and Casino to areas already cleared along the western edge of the North Sound and forgo further mangrove deforestation along this coast. The Bimini Bay Resort's own website acknowledges the ecological importance of mangroves and claims that they are concerned about restoring and creating mangrove habitat in Bimini. Unfortunately, mangrove ecosystems cannot be artificially "created" and any "restoration" that Bimini's mangroves need is a direct result of the Bimini Bay Resort's bulldozing activities. It has been well documented that Bimini Bay Resort has already removed a large area of mangroves, including an area with the largest species diversity of marine life in the North Sound. 2. Remove the proposed golf course from the development. The golf course poses the single greatest threat of the proposed plan to Bimini's marine environment. This is because it requires the removal of a huge area of "eco-sensitive land" (i.e. mangroves). Moreover, the pesticides and fertilizers used to maintain a golf course will inevitably enter Bimini lagoon and the nearby reefs, especially given the high winds and rainfall experienced in this area. The scientific literature is replete with examples of how these chemicals damage marine ecosystems (e.g. die-offs of invertebrates, bioaccumulation of toxins in the food chain, toxic algal blooms, algal overgrowth of coral reefs). Contaminated water from golf course run-off will be flushed into Bimini's main lagoon by tides on a daily basis, potentially diminishing water quality throughout the system. While the developer may benefit from a golf course, the people of Bimini and The Bahamas would assume all of the risk and costs. 3. Establish a Marine Protected Area along the east coast of the North Sound and around East Bimini. As the government acknowledged in 2000, the mangroves of North and East Bimini are of highest priority for national protection. A Marine Protected Area will ensure that this richly diverse ecosystem continues to serve Bimini as it always has: by providing nursery habitat for key food species (queen conch, lobster) and the gamefish that have made Bimini famous all around the world. The mangroves and seagrass flats are also vital habitat for the baitfish that attract large pelagic species (e.g. tuna, billfish) and the anglers that pursue them. The fish which populate Bimini's coral reefs will also benefit from protected nursery areas, and thus, so will the thousands of SCUBA and snorkel enthusiasts that visit Bimini. It is likely that even the Bimini Bay Resort itself would profit more from a Marine Protected area than from a golf course. As the world learned at great cost during last December's tsunami in South and South East Asia, it is critical to protect the mangrove ecosystem which, in turn, protects the human population from major storms. The livelihoods of your people and the future of your tourism industry depend on conservation of the mangrove ecosystem. As a tourist, I select destinations where natural resources are protected, and I would never patronize a country or a resort that destroys valuable mangrove ecosystems. Sincerely, CC: |