Activist group says Barbuda is under threat

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Alex Botelho enjoying Barbuda. Photo: Al Mackinnon

The island of Barbuda is under threat and it needs our help. Barbuda is home to not only a diverse ecosystem but also home to some incredible waves that we have documented in the past.

Waves like this:

Photo: Al Mackinnon

 

That gives you a vision like this:

Photo: Al Mackinnon

An anonymous group of activists known as the Save Barbuda movement, in partnership with the Global Legal Action Network, have set up a campaign to stop the island of Barbuda being devastated by a massive, illegal building project for the super-rich. Barbuda is a small, low-lying and arid island in the Caribbean. It contains critical ecosystems, unique flora and fauna, and a highly-mobile natural coastal barrier system that evolved over millions of years. To make sure people leave it alone, a large section of Barbuda has been declared a protected wetland area under an international treaty called the RAMSAR Convention. Barbuda also contains a world-class wave at Palmetto Point, a fragile system of sand dunes and mangrove ecosystem located on the southwest tip of the island.

In 2017, Hurricane Irma damaged or destroyed approximately 90% of structures on Barbuda. While the island was evacuated, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda – which operates from Antigua – pushed forward new laws permitting the takeover of vast areas of communally-held land on Barbuda, to sell to outside investors.
The delicate nature of a place like this, and the fact that it is protected under an international agreement, would make you think that nobody in their right mind would try to build a 600-acre luxury housing complex for billionaires, complete with its own airport and golf course, right on top of Palmetto point. Well, you’d be wrong. Work has already started on such a project, and, apparently, several properties have already been sold. It is called Barbuda Ocean Club, and the company behind it is called Peace, Love and Happiness (PLH).

The construction will have dire consequences. It will destroy the ecosystem, with its unique flora and fauna. It will alter the coastal morphology, which could destabilise the rest of the island and jeopardise other human settlements. And, of course, it will threaten the surfing wave at Palmetto Point.

In just three months, the island went from lush paradise to a bulldozed wreck and it only stands to get worse.

Apart from being an environmental and social crime, the project is illegal, because it is inside a Ramsar protected area. So please help to stop it by going here:
https://www.instagram.com/savebarbuda/

www.savebarbuda.org

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4 COMMENTS

  1. You can thank the ALP, they took advantage of the people when they were at there lowest after Irma, rushing in like thieves in the night. Instead of rebuilding for the people they rebuild out of greed. Take from it’s people and sell to the rich. You got all the rich Antiguans/politicians getting wealthier off the backs of the people who truly own the land. Soon there will be nothing left for us to fight for. We on the sister island may not be allowed there unless you have very deep pockets. So very sad.

  2. What no pictures for 2021🥱? Funny last year that area was greener than the two years you provided the public with

    • So those are STALE PHOTOS being used in the story? Is it true that John Mussington built his house right at the edge of the lagoon? Did he do any Environamental Impact Assessment before building?

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