Nature Foundation urges dive
operator to protect coral reefs
PHILIPSBURG--“It is incomprehensible that a dive tour operator would anchor on a reef, the very reef that provides a source of financial income through its inherent value and the natural beauty such an ecosystem affords.”
This was the word from Nature Foundation St. Maarten in support of Ocean Care Foundation, which has expressed outrage and worry about dive operators damaging the coral reefs around the island with anchors and other careless practices.
“Coral reefs are under threat, suffering from decline and degradation due to a combination of natural and man-made factors. Fifty-eight per cent of the world's reefs are potentially threatened by human activity. Overexploitation and coastal development pose the greatest potential threat,” Nature Foundation Marine Park Manager Beverly Nisbeth said.
“Some of the man-made damage is related to tourism. At the same time, tourism is of great economic importance to countries with significant areas of coral reef, such as the Caribbean states and territories. For some smaller island territories, like St. Maarten, tourism is the mainstay of the local economy,” she added.
Because tourism in the Caribbean depends almost entirely on coastal resources, most development takes place in the coastal zone and most of the impact occurs in the coastal zone.
Impact from tourism activities includes both direct physical impact (such as diver damage and anchor damage) and indirect impact from resort development and operation, and development of tourism infrastructure in general.
Impact from tourism can often be reduced by raising awareness and changing behaviour among both tourists and local tourism industry workers, she continued. “Anchoring destroys reefs by damaging slow-growing corals that are important to our economy.”
St. Maarten Marine Park is a multi-user resource and as such is divided into various zones for specific uses to accommodate each user group. There are designated “no anchor zones” where only mooring is allowed. Anchoring in a “no anchor zone” will be punishable by law in the near future, once the Marine Park Ordinance has been finalised.
The park, which encompasses the waters around the Dutch side, has 22 official dive sites with mooring buoys, some of which need to be replaced. At least eight more moorings are scheduled to be installed, including fishermen’s marker buoys. The extra moorings will be placed at sites that are most frequented by dive tour operators, thereby lessening the strain on the existing moorings.
Funding has been requested for mooring maintenance supplies which, once approved, will allow the instalment of new mooring buoys.
In the meantime, Nature Foundation St. Maarten strongly urges those who anchor to desist from this destructive practice by using an alternative site with a mooring buoy. It asks everyone to be a “good neighbour” by encouraging all park users to be responsible.
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