Extensive development of Blackadore Caye could lead to the destruction of much more flats habitat in Belize.
Photo via facebook.com/defendblackadore
We posted back in February about the proposed development of Blackadore Caye, in the middle of the fantastic fishery of Belize’s Chetumal Bay. Local residents and anglers—including guides from El Pecador Lodge—have been protesting both the process of the development, which involves dredging, and the intent to build overwater structures above sensitive flats. Here’s how the biologists at Bonefish & Tarpon Trust have characterized the project:
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.
Blackadore Caye is under serious threat, and we should do what we can to stop this kind of reckless development. Check out the video below to see how local voices are being ignored in this debate.
The developers are trying to fast-track this through the process. That means all letters, comments must be received prior to August 31, when the National Environmental Appraisal Committee meets to evaluate the project. So we must write today.
Click here to read the full BTT statement.
Click here to email the Belize Department of the Environment directly.
Letter sent!
I thought Leo was some sort of an environmental activist. Seems to go against the grain, know what I’m saying. I guess money talks. I believe that Belize as a country needs to focus more on reducing their crime and murder rate rather than destroying what natural beauty remains inside the border. HELLO, you are THIRD IN THE WORLD for highest murder rate. What is the reason that calls for the building of another high-end resort which is so profound that they can over look the destruction of ecologically sensitive areas not to mention the loss of fishing for those recreational fishing guides. That is how they survive. No this is not OK. This is a terrible injustice against nature. I watch the world become smaller every day, soon there will be nothing left. Conservation is the key to preservation.