Save Biminis north sound

[Blacktip shark]

Stop Golf Course Construction

The bulldozers and dredges may have stopped for now, but they have not left.

It has been just a few years since the destructive arm of the Bimini Bay Resort ploughed into the water of the North Sound in Bimini, Bahamas and annihilated the mature mangroves making up Mosquito Point, which used to be one of the biologically richest and most diverse parts of the lagoon. Nearby, their dredges tore up huge tracts of the seafloor, clogging the once crystal clear waters of the lagoon with sediments and smothering juvenile conch, lobster and fish. Several miles of wild, natural Bahamian coastline can now be mistaken for any part of suburban Miami. It is difficult to imagine, and tragic, that just a few years previously the Bahamian government had declared the North Sound one of five priority spots for a new Marine Protected Area.

Bimini Bay Resort, being developed by the Capo group in partnership with Hilton Hotels, knows the value of the ecosystem they are destroying. They say on their website: “Conch, bonefish, lobster and reef fish thrive in the tangled mangrove tree roots in North Sound lagoon”. Their website alludes to their efforts to protect mangroves –yet they don’t reveal to potential buyers and visitors how many mangroves were bulldozed to build Phase I of their resort. Nor have they engaged in any sort of mitigation of the environmental damage they have caused. Instead their efforts are focused on moving to Phase II of their plan: bulldozing and dredging what they advertise as the “natural wonders” of Bimini, in order to establish a golf course that will effectively replace two thirds of the mangrove-lined coast of the North Sound.

Most local people on Bimini island think Capo’s resort is large enough as is, and they want the rest of the North Sound preserved. Letters from Global Response members and other international environmental organizations have helped hold this development in Phase I. In a recent issue of the Nassau Guardian, Bimini Bay Development President Rafael Reyes said of the international media attention "This is a huge injustice to us as developers. We stand to lose our opportunity to make more money”.

In what appears to be a glimmer of hope, the recently elected new government is reportedly working “feverishly” to establish a Bimini Marine Protected Area. Even Bimini Bay Resort acknowledges the importance of such a development; however, they want to dictate the MPA’s boundaries so that they will be able to build their golf course flush against it. If that happens, much more of the seafloor will be torn up, more marine life will die and many more acres of mangroves will be destroyed in the process. Even more importantly, the golf course will discharge water, fertilizers and pesticides that will likely make the North Sound inhospitable to most marine animals.

If Capo Group and Hilton have their way, the Bahamas will establish the world’s first Dead Zone Marine Protected Area!

The Government of The Bahamas has authorized the Bahamas National Trust, the organization that oversees the National Park system, to review the Bimini Bay Resort Project. The Government says it will do what the Bahamas National Trust recommends regarding the development.

The decisions of the Bahamian government over the next few months will be critical and historic: will they cave under pressure from foreign developers wanting still “more money” or will they make a stand and draw a line for the future of their own people and Bimini’s precious marine habitats?

Please visit YouTube - SaveBimini's Channel to see a video produced by the Cousteau Family on the Bimini development.

Thank you for joining in this campaign which was requested by EARTHCARE, and ReEarth, environmental NGOs in The Bahamas.

Bimini needs your help!

Please send the model letter (see below) or your own letter to:

Eric Carey. Executive Director of the Bahama National Trust
P.O Box N4105
Nassau, The Bahamas
Fax 242 393 4978
Email: eric.carey@bahamasnationaltrust.org

Cc:
Glen Bannister,
President of the Bahamas National Trust
P.O Box N4105
Nassau, The Bahamas
glenn.banister@bahamasnationaltrust.org

The Rt. Hon. Hubert Alexander Ingraham
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Office of the Prime Minister
Cecil Wallace-Whitfield Centre
Cable Beach
P. O. Box CB-10980
Nassau, N.P., The Bahamas
Email: hubertingraham@bahamas.gov.bs
Fax 242-327-5806

The Honourable Earl Deveaux,

Minister of the Environment MP
3rd Floor Dockendale House
West Bay Street
P. O. Box N-3040
Nassau, N.P., The Bahamas
Email: earldeveaux@bahamas.gov.bs
Fax: 242 328 1324

Philip Weech, Director
B.E.S.T Commission
Office of The Prime Minister
PO BOX CB 10980
Nassau, The Bahamas
Fax: (242)-326-3509
Email: philipweech@bahamas.gov.bs

MODEL LETTER:

Dear Sirs:

The international community and responsible tourists support preservation of Bimini’s exceptionally diverse marine ecosystem and the establishment of the Bimini Marine Protected Area.

I am very concerned about threats to endangered marine and mangrove ecosystems worldwide, and to Bimini’s natural resources in particular. I urge you to limit the Bimini Bay Resort development to Phase I which is already complete, and to scrap Phase II entirely.

Phase II would destroy two-thirds of Bimini’s North Coast mangrove forests and pollute Bimini’s valuable marine habitat with toxic golf course runoff for decades to come. Please act now to prevent this disaster for Bimini, for the Bahamas and for the planet’s endangered marine ecosystems.

Sincerely,

 

[Bill Fisher]

Thanks for the post.
Everyone needs to watch this video....