Dear Sir,
We, citizens of the Commonwealth of Dominica, are compelled to express our deep concerns regarding the proposed yacht marina in Cabrits National Park, announced at the groundbreaking ceremony on May 25, 2024. While not opposed to development, we believe such a project should not jeopardize environmentally sensitive areas.
Dominica has been heralded as the Nature Isle of the Caribbean, achieving global recognition for our commitment to climate resilience. Our efforts have been showcased in international media, and our eco-friendly initiatives have placed us among the top travel destinations worldwide. The creation of a marine park to protect endangered sperm whales has further solidified our environmental leadership.
However, the construction of a marina in the National Park threatens to undermine these achievements by damaging our reputation, harming our environment, and disrupting the local community and economy.
Main Concerns:
- Environmental Impact: Wetlands are crucial for flood control, reducing flood peak by up to 60%. The Cabrits Wetlands protect Portsmouth from storm surges and hurricanes. Their destruction would increase vulnerability to climate events and lead to more frequent and severe flooding.
- Impact on Local Industries: Wetlands maintain water clarity and support marine life, crucial for both the fishing and eco-tourism sectors. Construction would disrupt these natural processes, affecting marine biodiversity and the health of coral reefs, which are already at risk from climate change.
- Carbon Sequestration: Coastal wetlands are significant carbon sinks. Their disruption would release stored carbon, contradicting our goal to be a climate-resilient nation and exacerbating global warming.
- Biodiversity: Cabrits National Park is home to numerous species, including birds, mammals, and endemic reptiles. The marina would threaten these species and their habitats, impacting biodiversity and local hunting industries. We have already witnessed some of these impacts with the introduction of the Cuban Treefrog.
- Cultural and Historical Significance: The park and its wetlands are integral to our cultural identity, representing our connection to both natural and historical heritage.
- Legal and Compliance Issues: The project has not met the necessary legal standards, such as conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as mandated by the Physical Planning Act. Additionally, international commitments like the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and the Escazú Agreement require public participation and transparency in environmental matters, which appear to be lacking in the marina project.
Call to Action:
Given our commitment to environmental and cultural preservation, we urge your government to:
- Halt the marina project within Cabrits Wetlands.
- Explore alternative locations for the marina that do not threaten crucial environmental resources.
- Ensure full compliance with national and international environmental laws, including conducting a comprehensive EIA with public participation.
- Prioritize sustainable development that aligns with Dominica’s environmental goals and cultural values.
Protecting our unique natural environments is vital for maintaining Dominica’s status as the “Nature Isle of the Caribbean” and a leader in climate resilience. We trust you will consider the long-term implications of this project on our environment, economy, and global standing.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.
Yours respectfully,
Concerned Citizens of Dominica
Join the petition, and get more information at www.change.org/savecabrits
Without consideration for environmental impact, there will be a bleak future for the children of Dominica. Things change so fast nowadays. Look at the disappearance of crapaud. The Cabrits is a reminder of how the English and French fought over this island. Dominicans need to assert their soverignty over uninformed commercicial explotation that flies in the face of the island’s hard-fought bid for independance.
Something is definitely wrong with you all bums and ignoramuses in Dominica. Everything is about an environmental impact. Don’t you all have anything better to do with your lives? Every time Skerrit comes up with something good for the development of our country, these bums and good-for-nothings always have something negative to say. You all hear other countries talk about environment impact and here you all go like parrots and a..holes.
DS is just another fool that cannot connect any dots. As long as he see something bright and shiny in his face he see that as development. Regardless of whether it making sense or not. How can you propose and even do ground breaking ceremony on a national project that can have environmental implications without doing and EIA? A NATIONAL PROJECT??? the EIA is to determine, whether the proposed location of the project is suitable. without that, who knows what can happen? Project might be abandoned based on environmental info they didnt even check for, but only now finding out half way through the project. then what? what will be your comment? Already the country not making money, why waste it on careless haphazard projects ? you seem to the the real a-hole here ds. Blind fool following another fool.
Show us one tangible development that your one-man rogue regime has come up with to benefit the Island and its People!? Every single one of those incomplete cbi projects with foreign thieves are just a way to launder money, if you know what that means!! Why should you want to risk the destruction of the environment for something that will not benefit you? Don’t you know that everywhere in the world where there’s good governance, the environment has to be considered first, before any construction? Would you build a house on the banks of a river? Isn’t the failed Moroccan hotel an bad enough example for you?
I understand your concern, however, some things will be impacted but what is most important is that there needs a marina in that area, just as in Lubriere, notwithstanding the environmental and storm-surge issues. Whales thrive where it’s deeper so the two will have adequate space.
@Long-term Result
It’s passing strange to me that you can see the need for a marina at Loubiere but you can’t see an/the URGENT need to relocate those located close to the sea with dispatch. By the way this does not only apply to Loubiere, but to Citroniere and Newtown as well. With those unpredictable weather patterns we are experiencing, it’s just a matter of time!!! If those areas mentioned above had a Parliamentary Representative, i gues that would be his/her major preoccupation, and no dam Marina, but it seem like Skerrit is the only Parl Rep ‘in town’.
What a mess of a country. Shame on those who think that Dominica is deserving of this parody kind of government.
Them fellas there just like to go on Google and copy and paste information without understanding them or their applicability to our local scenarios. So, a little swamp a few feet from the seashore is going to control flooding in Portsmouth, purify water and be a significant carbon sink? Bollocks!
UWP and their acolytes were against relocating the people of Petite Savanne to Belvue Chopin.Crooks and traitors.
Who said that? Thats not true you fool. Clearly Ti Savanne was an unfortunate disaster and the displaced people would definitely need new living options. Why and who would ever oppose that? What was being questioned the CBI finances being used for housing that could not be accounted for. Especially for houses and apartments that were not properly built. but if people listened to fools like you, they might just believe the nonsense coming from your mout.
Go ask the people from Petite Savanne whether they are better off in those inferior concrete cages!!!
so you now move from airport to marina and you nit opposed to development.
these people will stop at nothing.
Nothing in this letter shows anti-development sentiments. It is all facts which you can google. This letter calls for proper planning for development that severely impacts the natural environment, conduction the necessary EIA studies in advance, consulting with the stakeholders and considering alternative sites. That is how a responsibel government operates. This is the era of climate change and sustainable development. We know better so we should do better.
Let me ask you something. If you hire a worker and that man not doing any of his duties as he should, not following procedures, just doing what he want and in the end what he submits always been questionable, would you say to yourself that YOU are just hating on that man? and that you are just a hater? Most likely NOT. Your common sense would tell you differently. We are not opposed to development. WE WANT PROPER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THAT ADDS VALUE AND LENDS TO FURTHER PROPER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. NOT CREATE MORE OBSTACLES FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. Hence at least an EIA is very necessary FOR BOTH THE AIRPORT AND MARINA. I mean this woman was a top government official in the Planning Division. I will sooner listen to her than those fools who just giving their friends projects to keep them happy. No public tendor call no nothing. Just announcements of who going and build.
“WE WANT PROPER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THAT ADDS VALUE AND LENDS TO FURTHER PROPER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.”
What would this look like? What is your example of such a project?
Unless the values of the ocean cruising fraternity have changed since I was a part of it, I know that those that sail to Dominica will be supportive of this partition.
What is needed, beyond the natural anchorage at Portsmouth, is a boatyard with haul out facilities and a skilled workforce.