International Experts Call For Protection Of Bimini’S Environment
Tribune242
INTERNATIONAL conservation experts are urging the government to fulfil its promise and protect Bimini’s unique ecological heritage and the local industries that have depended upon it for generations.
The
experts, hosted on a tour of Bimini by environmental advocacy group
Save The Bays (STB), this week called for the official establishment of
the North Bimini Marine Reserve. Among other important natural
resources, the reserve would protect mangrove forests that serve as a
nursery for the abundant sea life that has attracted visitors to the
island over the years.
“From
an ecological perspective, it’s incredibly important to maintain these
mangroves in order to maintain the whole marine ecosystem,” said Rachael
Silverstein, the Waterkeeper for Biscayne Bay, Florida.
“This
is one of the only mangrove locations in this area and all of the
important species that come from the Gulf Stream that people like to
fish have habitats here and live in the nurseries here,” she said. “If
we destroy that we also destroy our fishing industry and our diving
industry and the repercussions can be felt across the Caribbean, across
the Bahamas and certainly in Miami – we won’t be able to come here
anymore to fish, to dive or snorkel.”
The
global Waterkeeper Alliance is a leading non-governmental organisation
that co-ordinates more than 200 stewards of the marine environment, or
Waterkeepers, who are assigned to rivers, bays, lakes and coastal areas.
Sharon
Khan, international director of the Waterkeeper Alliance, said the
North Bimini reserve is one of several key protected areas for which the
organisation is advocating around the world.
“I
believe there is nothing more important than establishing marine
reserves in ecosystems throughout this world that sustain our global
life,” she said.
Wetlands
Alex
Matthiessen, former Hudson Bay Waterkeeper and now CEO of the Blue
Marble Project, said: “The (Bahamas) government has already established
that they want to create this reserve, but they need to formalise it.
They need to make it a legal reserve. The wetlands at the north end of
the lagoon are incredibly important and are therefore vital to the local
businesses and industries here.”
International
conservationists have added strength to the concerned Biminites and
other Bahamians who want to see the island’s ecological heritage
preserved.
Prime
Minister Perry Christie has yet to respond to these entreaties,
including a letter from Bimini’s local council requesting that the
reserve become reality as soon as possible.
The
council asked that the Christie administration commit to the protected
area swiftly, in an effort to ensure that developers do not construct a
golf course on the island and to prevent further development on its
northern tip.
The
letter said: “It has become commonplace that major developments occur
on our island without notice to its residents or to this elected
council. We, therefore, respectfully ask that you respond to these
requests as quickly as possible.”
The
golf course was among the plans for Resorts World Bimini’s resort and
casino development, which environmentalists claim has already caused
extensive damage to the island’s renowned reef system, including many of
the top dive sites.
Local
advocacy group the Bimini Blue Coalition has issued a petition calling
on the government to establish the reserve as repeatedly promised.
It has more than 600 signatures to date.
Despite
Resorts World’s insistence that the golf course is now off the table,
STB director Romi Ferreira said the pattern of frequently changing plans
has left many sceptical and in need of official assurance.
As
for the claim by Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources V Alfred
Gray that the government is only waiting for conservationists to decide
on the boundaries of the reserve, Ferreira pointed out that its proposed
parameters have long been established.
In
2012, the Bimini Marine Protected Area Campaign submitted detailed
images and descriptions of the proposed boundaries to government,
including precise map co-ordinates.
October 30, 2014
