Critical news regarding flats in Belize from the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust today –
…A development project proposed by developer Delos and actor Leonardo DiCaprio will have negative impacts on the flats near Ambergris Caye, and would set a dangerous precedent that would threaten the flats habitats throughout Belize. This proposed project, Blackadore Caye Restorative Island Project, would construct extensive piers on the flats with over-water houses and hotels on them. Not only would this fragment the flats habitat, but it is also in violation of the rules governing the Hol Chan Marine Reserve in which Blackadore is located.
BTT has strongly opposed the project since its inception, particularly the overwater structures. The proposed structures that would be part of the development would replace flats habitats with habitats that are not used by the flats species. Instead of having large, continuous flats around Blackadore, the flats habitat would be broken up by the new structures. This type of habitat change is called ‘fragmentation’, which has been shown by many legitimate scientific studies to have extensive negative impacts on many fish species. Further, the developers are proposing dredging the flats to provide sand to create beaches, which would also be detrimental to the flats. Since BTT research has shown that bonefish have small home ranges, the loss and destruction of flats habitats around Blackadore Caye will certainly impact the local bonefish population. Allowing this to occur inside a protected marine reserve would also set a dangerous precedent for the rest of Belize…
Read more at the link above.
We Must Act by 31 August
Belize’s National Environmental Appraisal Committee meets tomorrow the 31st to evaluate the proposal – submit comments via email to the Belize Department of the Environment today if at possible. Git ‘er done.
[Back in a day when I was less civilized, I’d have called DiCaprio a duplicitous rat bastard for pushing something like Blackadore to line his pockets while jetting around the world lecturing we less informed on the impending disasters of climate change. Yet another example of a what some might call an elitist imposing a different set of life rules ‘for thee instead of me’. But I won’t… ]
