Mega project at Northern 2 Caye rejected by Audubon

Earlier in the week, we told you about Puerto Azul, a project proposed by an Italian group that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. It would be more massive in comparison to the Norwegian Cruise Line Project or the Stake Bank Project that are both currently being dismissed by environmentalists and tourism industry stakeholders as bad for the country. While Healthy Reefs Initiative had expressed their concern about the project, today, the Belize Audubon Society came out with a rejection of the proposed scope of the Puerto Azul. The project, according to Audubon could threaten the Blue Hole Natural Monument and Halfmoon Caye, which that organization manages. News Five’s Jose Sanchez reports.

Jose Sanchez, Reporting

The Belize Audubon Society co-manages Blue Hole Natural Monument and the Halfmoon Caye Natural Monument. But even off the coast of Belize, these sites are under threat from a mega development called Puerto Azul that would be developed on neighboring Northern 2 and Sanborn Cayes. The Belize Audubon’s objections are a national concern.

Arreni Palacio Morgan

Arreni Palacio Morgan, Advocacy Program Manager, Belize Audubon Society

“The project is rather massive. It is a caye of over nine hundred acres; it has eleven hotels according to the proposal, fashion centers, restaurants, a downtown area. So it is a rather big project. And at full capacity, will have about three thousand persons on the island at one time. Our position is that it is too large and it may need to be scoped, brought down, and downsized. There are components of the project that certainly won’t do; it is clashing with our environment. Example the over the water airstrip that they propose, the island for solid waste management and there is also an underwater marine laboratory. There is a marina also that will require some dredging.”

Shane Young

Shane Young, Marine Protected Areas Manager, Belize Audubon

“What we need to understand is that those two protected areas are components of the World Heritage Site…two out of the seven that makes up the World Heritage Site. In terms of development at Northern Two Cayes, there will be some impact in terms of the fishing industry. We are talking about massive dredging if that is the case. Lighthouse Reef Atoll on a whole has a healthy sea grass bed and if silt and sedimentation is to happen due to dredging, definitely it will have an impact on the sea grass bed. We all know basic ecology that the sea grass provides nursery grounds for the fishery and especially the commercial conch. Lighthouse Reef has a healthy conch population and definitely there will be some impact to the fishing industry. In terms of the mangrove ecosystem, Lighthouse Reef Atoll has five islands, five main cayes and out of those five, you have two that comprises of mangrove ecosystem. And again if you remove one, there will definitely be an impact on the fishing industry considering that the mangrove provide habitat for the fisheries as well. When you look at it at a tourism stand point, we have stakeholders from San Pedro, Caye Caulker, Placencia, the Turneffe Atoll that depend on the services provided by Blue Hole. Its natural service is that Blue Hole is an icon for Belize and if any sedimentation or silt or massive development is to happen, there will be some devastating impact to the Blue Hole and Halfmoon Caye. Considering that Blue Hole and Halfmoon Caye; they are popular dive sites and if heavy development will occur, what happens in the marine system is that point A affects point B. And considering that Blue Hole and Halfmoon Caye is just south of Northern Two Cayes where the development is proposed to happen, there could be some impact on the reef system within these protected areas.”

It is difficult for small boats to navigate the channel, so there is a possibility of the coral reef system been blown up at the northern point of the Light House Reef Atoll, to create a channel way to accommodate vessels to enter the proposed Mariner at Northern 2 Cayes.  Running aground and damaging the reef are only some of the risks associated with Puerto Azul development.

Arreni Palacio Morgan

“There are nesting grounds on Sanborn for protected turtles. Our biologist goes out there and gets data on nesting turtles out there.”

Jose Sanchez

“When you talk aobut two thousand employees and a thousand guests, you have the issue of waste material; just the simple use of soaps. Where does all that go?”

Arreni Palacio Morgan

“Right. It is quite a distance from land. We anticipate that there will be solid waste issues. Again this was a project proposal and we would like to hope that the EIA preparer will advise the developer to size and scale. We want responsible development, sustainable development. We understand that there is a need for investment in the country, but we want that investment to be smart because at the end of the day, some of our more beautiful icon features are the most valuable and the most vulnerable.”

Does the availability of jobs outweigh the possible damage to the environment? The Environmental Impact Assessment is expected to be completed before year’s end. Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.

The Belize Audubon Society hopes that the EIA preparer will advise the developer to plan for a much smaller project.