Buccoo Reef marine park saved from Sandals

Butch Stewart owner of Sandals and Beaches resorts calls flooding and coastal erosion “fake news”. He wants to build 2 mega hotels in Tobago, bulldozing sensitive wetlands in the Buccoo Reef Marine Park zone to do so. The consequences will be devastating - flooding, coastal erosion, destruction of fish spawning and turtle breeding grounds and bird habitats. Let’s prevent this environmental destruction. Tell Butch Stewart and Sandals environmental disasters are not “fake news”.

Dear friends
Sandals and Beaches resorts are targeting the protected Buccoo Reef/ Bon Accord wetland complex for mega hotel development. Tobago has a highly rated low-key eco tourism with pristine rainforests, coral reefs and secluded beaches. Sandals and Beaches are moving in for the kill. Their plan - cut, clear, and fill in hundreds of acres of protected wetlands to build 2 mega resort playgrounds with 925 hotel rooms, 25 restaurants and a golf course. Please help Tobago protect our coastline and preserve our natural heritage. DON’T throw Tobago’s wetlands under the bus just to make a buck.
Buccoo Reef Marine Park is a protected heritage site (1973). RAMSAR designated the Bon Accord lagoon a “wetland of international importance” (2005). Mega resorts are incompatible with that. Sandals an Beaches will permanently destroy irreplaceable coastal and flood protection marshlands that are critical fish spawning and turtle breeding grounds and prized birding habitat. The lives and livelihoods of hundreds of nearby villagers will also be put at risk. But Sandals and Beaches don’t care – they call it “fake news”
SIGN THE PETITION. SAY NO TO SANDALS.
Golf courses are harmful to the environment. Natural vegetation is bulldozed to build them and highly toxic chemicals are used to maintain them. Chemicals from Sandals golf course will seep into the Bon Accord lagoon killing fish and turtles breeding there. This destruction is irreversible.
By law all Tobago’s beaches are public. Yet Sandals and Beaches will erect five jetties across Buccoo beach effectively preventing public access. Similarly they will attempt to corral Nylon Pool and No Man's Land for themselves by building over-water suites, blocking access by the Reef boats and fishermen. On other islands Sandals charge locals a prohibitive fee to use their facilities. This keeps the host population out, maintaining Sandals exclusive “all inclusive” boast. Butch Stewart is proud of it but Tobago says NO. No Man's Land and Nylon Pool do not belong to Butch Stewart and Sandals.
The government in Trinidad has a backroom deal with Sandals to spend 3 billion tax payer dollars to build these hotels. They say nothing will stop them and refuse to give details to the public until AFTER the contract is signed in November.
Let us stop this environmental scandal before it is too late. ACT NOW. Let Sandals and Beaches hear your voice. Tell Butch Stewart environmental destruction is not fake news. Do not jeopardise Tobago’s coastline, destroy our wetlands and marshes, kill off fish, turtle and bird habitats. A playground for Sandals and Beaches is not more important than protecting Tobago ‘s environment. The Buccoo Reef Bon Accord wetlands is no place to build mega hotels
SAY NO TO SANDALS AND BEACHES IN TOBAGO.

Links to information on the Buccoo Reef Bon Accord lagoon complex, Tobago‘s tourism, Sandals and Beaches below.

Map of Buccoo Reef Marine Park, the Bon Accord wetland and their protected status
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alvin_Thompson2/publication/325597226/figure/fig1/AS:634469270691841@1528280670780/1-Map-of-Buccoo-Reef-Marine-Protected-Area-in-southwestern-Tobago-with-Trinidad-and.png

https://www.ramsar.org/wetland/trinidad-and-tobago

A Marine scientist appeals - No Sandals on our Reef and wetlands.
https://wildtobago.blogspot.com/2018/11/no-sandals-on-our-reef-and-wetland.html

http://theconversation.com/protecting-wetlands-helps-communities-reduce-damage-from-hurricanes-and-storms-104670

Tobago’s Eco tourism and its economic value
http://www.acs-aec.org/index.php?q=sustainable-tourism/buccoo-reef

http://climateandreefs.org/trinidad-and-tobago


The BON ACCORD LAGOON rare birds
https://wildtobago.blogspot.com/2018/03/treasures-of-bon-accord-lagoon.html?showComment=1540954083888#c7112341016732118802

Sandals and Beaches Environmental Application for Tobago mega resorts http://www.environmenttobago.net/node/18

All Inclusives, their unethical tourism and the myth of benefits
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/mar/08/all-inclusive-holidays-travel-ethical-tourism

Golf courses vs the natural environment.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jun/14/thecaseagainstgolf

Trinidad government Sandals secret MOU challenged in court under Freedom of Information Act https://newsday.co.tt/2018/10/15/raymond-sandals-not-transparent/