URGENT!!! Letters needed TODAY to save Bonaire's Marine Park!

[diverjen]

[h=2]Repost

URGENT!!! Letters needed TODAY to save Bonaire's Marine Park![/h]

SAVE BONAIRE’S MARINE PARK!!

Latest Posts | savebonairemarinepark | Save Bonaire's National Marine Park

Susan Porter, author of the Bonaire Shore Diving Guide Made Easy has offered to hand deliver protest letters. She must receive them by 9am Fri 12/13. I have offered to post this as she is frantically trying to gather letters to help save Bonaire’s Reef!! There is a sample letter within the link above. You can use this letter as a template. Please personalize the letter. (see below). Be sure to include your name, address and signature.

Susan writes:
Information needed for the BNMP letter of protest.

Please use the word format letter or make a PDF. An email will NOT do. Your Signature is required!

Make sure you add what stake you have in this. You are a resident/visitor/business owner etc. How long you have been coming or something along this line.

If you would like to send any scanned/PDF's to me I will be happy to print and deliver them to STCB. You can also take a photo of your letter and send it to her. Her e mail is:susan@bsdme.info

Remember the deadline is first thing Friday morning so you must act NOW!​

 

[boat sju]

Sorry Jen. I don't live there. It's none of my business.

 

[wwguy]

Sorry Jen. I don't live there. It's none of my business.

Your apathy is underwhelming. If what happens on Bonaire is none of your business why do you even bother to follow this forum?

 

[redacted]

All the piers I have ever seen in the Caribbean seemed to provide excellent and sometime unique habitat and was often sought out for diving opportunities. Of course, the habitat benefit would have to be weighed against the loss of whatever existing habitat any pier might be built upon.

 

[wwguy]

We've patronized two Bonairean waterfront restaurants that no longer exist after waves from major storms washed them both into the sea. One of them (at the old Lion's Dive) resort was seaside. The other (Green Parrot at Sand Dollar) was built over the water, much like the new development would be. Neither were rebuilt.

The new development intends to build sewer and kitchen facilities overt he water, in addition to guest seating etc. This introduces significant risk to the local marine ecosystem in event of damage due to future storms or human error.

The local government, made up of local businessmen, recently issued an unprecedented ruling overriding existing Marine Park regulations in favor of over-water commercial development. The future ramifications and impact of this ruling and potential impact to the local reef are not insignificant. Conversely, there's no data supporting the supposition that this development will significantly and/or sustainably stimulate or otherwise grow the local economy beyond a few select individuals.

I'm not a tree hugger, or even a reef hugger, by nature (pun intended.) But this project smacks of cronyism and jeopardizes the local reef. Most importantly, by modifying existing laws it sets a precedent to continue this activity in the future. If you love Bonaire's reefs, especially those along the city coastline, now is your chance to say something.

Edit: I recognize the deadline mentioned in the OP has passed, but the problem and need for vocal input from concerned residents and tourists persists.

 

[Mike]

If the development is in the downtown water front area, more power to them, who cares? The area is already developed, it's already impacted, the diving, the tourist draw of diving on Bonaire is not in front of the down town water front. Keep the development in the previously developed areas where it belongs. Now if they want to build a party pier on one of the dive sites then there is something to talk about. You've got to have a reasonable balance when it comes to ecology and economy. Additional development in an area that is already developed is already impacted is where the development should be taking place.

 

[flots am]

Where is "plot 4-D-626 and 4-D-627"?

 

[boat sju]

Your apathy is underwhelming. If what happens on Bonaire is none of your business why do you even bother to follow this forum?

I assure you it's not apathy. I feel very strongly that it's not within my rights to tell the locals how they should manage/develop their resources. I'll be sad if they screw it up though.

 

[divezonescuba]

I had dinner at that restaurant a few days ago. Currently, the kitchen facilities are on the other side of the road. The servers run across the road with your food. If what they are intending is to move the kitchen facilities to the water side, they are going to need a lot larger pier on that side.

From what I could see, no one dives in that particular area. The company that we dived with advised us that the only pier that you could currently dive on was the salt pier. It might be interesting to learn how they were able to build that facility in the first place given the previous park regulations.