Court Ruling Won’t Stop ACCSD’s Commitment to Protecting Cayo Rosario

The Ambergris Caye Citizens for Sustainable Development says a decision by the court will not stop its members from the commitment to protect Cayo Rosario. On May thirtieth, the Supreme Court refused leave for judicial review in the case brought forward by A.C.C.S.D. against the Department of Environment for the approved development at Cayo Rosario. The small island and proposed site for a multimillion-dollar tourism project sits in the middle of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve Expansion. In 2015, it became protected as a productive fish nursery, world renowned catch and release sport fishing zone as well as an important migration corridor. Now, the approved development plan for the tourism project calls for fifty inland bungalows, as well as fifty-four over-the-water structures. While the island is private, the concern is the construction over the protected fishing flats. The group says that the ruling does not deter the ACCSD from moving forward to stop destructive development and massive dredging. One of its directors, Miguel Alamilla says that they are in discussion with their lawyers.

Miguel Alamilla

Miguel Alamilla, Director, A.C.C.S.D.

“We have been talking to our attorneys and our board and looking at what possible future action we could take. One of those would be working with the community as what we have been doing all along. The bottom-line is that we feel that this development project is not right for the community. Building over-the-water structures in a marine reserve and even more in a conservation area within one of the most important marine reserves in Belize, the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, is not what we want and that’s why we are adamant and insistent and I think we are right to be doing that in defending those issues.”