Waterkeepers Bahamas, the organization that fought for a closed season for Nassau grouper (above) to ensure survival of the favourite Bahamian species, today urged Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper to honour his commitment to the environment. Waterkeepers Chair Joseph Darville issued the plea in the face of the proposed Yntegra Rosewood project in the Central Exuma cays that calls for dredging and wiping out more than three footballs fields of coral reef and sea grass and building a 390-foot seawall that would forever alter a tidal flow area rich with natural marine resources, including grouper that Waterkeepers said would be destroyed along with legally protected sea turtles.
Veteran environmentalist applauds Deputy Prime Minister’s comments on environmental protection
VETERAN environmentalist and Waterkeepers Bahamas Chairman Joseph Darville today applauded Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper – who recently said that tourism projects will not go ahead if they do not meet environmental standards.
Darville urged the DPM to honour the words, he said, that were delivered with such passion.
Mr Cooper, who is also Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, recently told travel news and market research website Skift’s climate podcast, GreenShift, that The Bahamas has taken a hardline stance on development, saying: “If you are prepared to do quality business in a sustainable, environmentally friendly way, we welcome you. And if you plan not to conform, there’s no place for you.”
“I was highly surprised – and pleasantly so – that he came out and made that pronouncement of the importance of protecting our environment,” Darville said. “The fact that this statement is put out under his name means he has some affinity with protecting our environment.”
According to Darville, the country is in a “serious predicament” with regard to climate change – and he encouraged Mr Cooper to take action to protect the nation.
“If the Deputy Prime Minister is that much concerned about our environment and our ocean, we need to look seriously at entities that come in and do developments that will have significant negative impact on the environment,” said Darville, who has fought to protect the environment for more than half a century, long before it was popular, back before the mention of dredging drew mass opposition.
“We must stop selling or giving away Crown land or coastal areas to foreign entities. It should never ever be given away to them. They come in and do what they want with our coastal areas. We are giving away our heritage.”
Darville cited recent decisions that caused concern about the DPM’s commitment, including the SpaceX rocket landings and the Yntegra Rosewood Exuma development.
“My feeling is some keen environmentalists had written those words for him – is his heart really in it? If we are going to allow debris from rockets landing in our ocean, that is something that should be immediately rescinded and should be put to a referendum.”
Darville was equally worried about the proposed Rosewood development by a Miami-based investment group.
“I have dived in this area of magnificent seagrass. You cannot remove seagrass and plant it elsewhere. This whole dynamic system, if you dig that up, you won’t be able to replace it.”
The Rosewood development has sparked concerns over the dredging of an area of coral reefs and seagrass larger than three football fields. A massive seawall, 390 feet long and 40 feet wide, is also part of the plan, raising fears of changes to tidal flows.
“In that area, you can only swim with the tide and that is what is keeping that incredible seagrass pristine. The area is beautiful. You have turtles there, and Nassau grouper in just 14 inches of sea. It’s astonishing. Do not destroy this because you would be foolhardy to think you can replace this.”
He added that protection of coral reefs was hugely important. He said: “That should be a litmus test for the nation. We are losing a lot of our coral reefs because of coastal warming. All these efforts need to be underlined as significant for future generations – we have got to follow it to the T. They should be established in law and there should be practical ways to enforce it.”
Darville’s comments follow recent similar warnings from watchdog group Save The Bays, which also applauded Mr. Cooper’s words and called for additional enforcement, saying: “We have seen far too many cases where investors came in with promises of jobs and big visions, but took bulldozers and excavators and left empty promises and scarred earth and sea in their wake because their vision did not suit the reality of the location.”
