Last Remaining Mangrove Wetland in Barbados Disappearing due to Unchecked Pollution and Government Inaction

Bridgetown, Barbados, May 7, 2010 (ots/PRNewswire) - A new environmental
study sharply critical of the Government of Barbados shows the key
Graeme Hall mangrove wetland is disappearing due to outside
pollution and poor water quality.

The Graeme Hall wetland is the last remaining mangrove in
Barbados - a red mangrove forest that has existed for no less than
1,300 years. It is the only wetland in Barbados recognized
internationally under the Convention on Wetlands of International
Importance (Ramsar). It acts as a Caribbean flyway stop for migratory
birds between North and South America.

The extensive 800-page study
(http://www.graemehall.com/press/papers/Graeme Hall043010 MEA.pdf)
prepared for the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary by Environmental
Engineering Consultants of Tampa, Florida shows the Sanctuary has
suffered a 77 per cent reduction in salinity in the past ten years
due to an inoperative government-run sluice gate. The huge reduction
signals "an inevitable failure of the mangrove ecosystem" as
freshwater flora and fauna take over.

The study also cites damaging factors including: dumping of raw
sewage into the wetland instead of the sea by the South Coast Sewage
Treatment Plant; contaminated storm water runoff originating from
1,150 acres of government-managed drainage systems; and, commercial
and residential pollutants from adjoining properties.

"The government owned and operated sluice gate failure confirms
our worst fears," said Stuart Heaslet, an official with Graeme Hall
Nature Sanctuary. "It means that as the mangrove forest dies, it
will not grow back because freshwater plants are taking over."

The original environmental investment was based on the area being
protected as a brackish mangrove ecosystem.

"The study confirms that Government-controlled pollution is being
dumped into the wetland. Despite our formal offers of technical and
financial assistance to government, there has been no response. We
can't defend ourselves against pollution and environmental
mismanagement outside our boundaries. Bird counts are down, crabs are
disappearing, and we are seeing environmental degradation
everywhere."

Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary occupies 42 per cent of the Ramsar
wetland at Graeme Hall, and is owned by Peter Allard, a Canadian
investor and philanthropist who has put more than US $35 million into
the 35-acre eco-tourism site to preserve the last significant
mangrove woodland and wetland on the island.

"The investment in the Sanctuary was supposed to be part of a
sustainable environmental initiative, dependent on government
leadership," said Allard. "As the largest private environmental
stakeholder in Barbados, we continue to invest hundreds of thousands
of dollars annually to maintain the Sanctuary, but we all have to
face the fact that it's Government who is killing the wetland. The
study shows that our environmental commitment and investment cannot
withstand this assault."

The Sanctuary in fact closed its doors to the general public in
late 2008 when problems of pollution and water quality became
overwhelming.

"This isn't just a problem for the Ramsar environmental wetland
and our investment, it's also a health and human welfare problem for
the people of Barbados," said Allard.

Despite a 6,000 signature petition by citizens of Barbados to
create a 240-acre national park at Graeme Hall, a new government
zoning policy calls for commercial and residential development for
the majority of the area.

As the Canadian owner of the Sanctuary, Allard has filed several
complaints alleging that the Government of Barbados has violated its
international obligations by refusing to enforce its environmental
laws, thereby allowing increased pollution and land development to
damage the Sanctuary.

See study: http://www.graemehall.com/press/papers/Graeme Hall
043010 MEA.pdf

Related articles:

http://graemehall.com/press/releases/bilateral-investments-treaty-com
plaint/20091028-BIT-Complaint.pdf

http://graemehall.com/press/releases/barbados-endangers-wetlands/2009
1203-Barbados-Endangers-Wetlands.pdf

For further information: Stuart Heaslet, +1(246)-428-2776
(Barbados), news@graemehall.com

ots Originaltext: Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary Inc.
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
CONTACT: For further information: Stuart Heaslet,
+1(246)-428-2776(Barbados), news@graemehall.com