Coastal Development or Devastation?

Bulldozing mangroves on Bimini Island, Bahamas, to make way for the Hilton Group`s Bimini Bay Resort and Casino.
PHOTO: Pew Institute of Ocean Science, Bimini Biological Field Station

Hurricane Katrina has prompted many to ask whether it is wise to destroy coastal ecosystems to build tourist facilities, businesses, homes, and roads.

E-LAW advocates around the world have been working for years to protect coastlines from ill-advised development projects. Intact beaches, mangroves, sea grass beds, and coastal waterways buffer inland areas from hurricanes and typhoons. When development projects destroy these ecosystems, the potential for storm damage increases.

Diana McCaulay, Director of the Jamaica Environment Trust, says: "The concerns really hit the headlines when there is a storm or hurricane. That`s when we face the damage caused by poor decision making."

Diana says Jamaicans are not only threatened by high-rise Cancun-style development, but by destruction of wetlands and inadequate attention to natural drainage in areas where poor citizens live.

Jamaica`s coastlines are under assault. Over the past two years, E-LAW U.S. Staff Scientists have reviewed plans for 10 proposed coastal development projects in Jamaica.

In one of these cases, the Government of Jamaica allowed clearance of land just west of Runaway Bay in Saint Ann, before the public could comment on the proposed large-scale hotel project. E-LAW U.S. is collaborating with Jamaican partners to challenge this development. A group of environmental NGOs and individuals will soon file a lawsuit challenging the process for the approval for this project, aiming to strengthen legal protections for coastal regions in Jamaica.

E-LAW partner Clarisa Vega works with local police to protect mangroves in the Bay Islands, Honduras.
PHOTO: BICA-Utila

E-LAW U.S. works with partners around the world to protect coastal ecosystems, with current projects in the Bahamas, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, and India.

In Mexico, E-LAW advocates at the Cancun office of the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA) have filed a petition to halt development of a resort known as the "Mayan Palace." CEMDA attorney Patricio Martin was recently quoted in Mother Jones: "The government told people they`d be enriched by mass tourism ... But with package travel, the big money never enters Mexico. Foreigners get the money; we get the pollution and sprawl." (Mother Jones, "Pier Pressure," July/August 2005).

The Mesoamerican Reef, located off the Caribbean coast of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, is the second largest reef system in the world and draws thousands of tourists each year, constantly fueling the demand for tourist facilities. Inappropriate inland and coastal development threaten the Reef with sedimentation and pollution. That damage, combined with increasing frequency and intensity of El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events caused by global climate change, is devastating to the Reef and the marine life it supports.

In July, E LAW U.S. Associate Director, Lori Maddox, worked with partners in Guatemala City to convene fishermen, dive operators, NGOs and government agencies to work together on new regulations protecting the Mesoamerican Reef and coastal ecosystems.

"By preserving coastal habitats, E-LAW advocates around the world are protecting communities from storm damage," says Mark Chernaik, E-LAW U.S. Staff Scientist.

Prawn farms off the coast of Belize.
PHOTO: Jennifer Gleason, E-LAW U.S.

In St. Thomas Parish, Jamaica, communities celebrated when authorities halted a proposed sand mining project that threatened local beaches. Jamaica Pre-Mix Ltd. proposed dredging two million metric tons of sand every year, for 20 years, from the mouth of the Yallahs River. The Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) called on E-LAW U.S. to evaluate the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the
proposed project.

Mark found that the EIA failed to identify potentially destructive impacts on beach stability and the possibility of significant changes to the coastline.

Advocates at JET presented Mark`s findings to Jamaica`s National Environment and Planning Agency. NEPA notified the project proponents that approval would not be considered if the concerns outlined by Mark were not addressed. The project has been on hold ever since.

In July, E-LAW partners at the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) won a high court victory protecting a critical flood zone in the capital city of Dhaka. A developer had proposed filling the flood zone for a housing project.

Mark provided an expert witness affidavit explaining the risk of filling the flood zone. Dhaka lies in the delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers, which flow from the Himalayas. Dhaka`s flood zones are critical to protecting the city`s nine million residents.

Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami offer painful reminders that destroying natural coastlines to allow development can come at a high price. E-LAW is helping ensure that we learn lessons from these tragedies.