Drive on to protect Hawksbill
Publication: Daily Nation / Extra
Paper Section And Page: 14
Paper Date: Wed, Dec 13, 2000
Byline: by Bernard Babb
AN environmental conservation project to protect the endangered Hawksbill turtle as well as add value to hotel properties on the island's South Coast is to be launched this week.
Managing Director of Coconut Court Hotel, James Blades is moving to implement the Turtle Nesting Project and has invited hoteliers operating along the corridor between Needhams Point and the Caribee Hotel, to a special meeting on Saturday to discuss the project.
The coastal stretch is an environmentally sensitive nesting area for the globally endangered Hawksbill turtle and James viewed it as an area where man and marine life must co-exist. As a result, management and staff of Coconut Court Hotel have devised the project in the hope of creating a friendly environment for Hawksbill reproduction, as well as to sensitise the community about preservation of the environment.
"We are here and the turtles are here and we need to co-exist in a managed environment." said Blades.
The hotelier said he wanted the project to get the widest possible support, particularly since the Needhams area was earmarked for major development as Barbados sought to increase and upgrade its hotel room stock. The government-owned Hilton Hotel is to be reconstructed with 300 rooms, Island Inn has planned a 150-room expansion, the Savannah Hotel has added another 80 rooms and Coconut Court is also scheduled to increase its room count by 200.
All of this represented major traffic in a sensitive area and James said he was convinced that environmental protection could also add a new marketing dimension to properties in the area.
"Unless we are managing this from Day One, we are doomed to failure and the Hawksbill turtle will disappear for ever," he reasoned.
According to Blades, Coconut Court had made a committment to foster a turtle-friendly environment around the hotel to further protect the endangered Hawksbill and other hotels were being encouraged to do the same. Coconut Court intended to replace all of its existing harsh security lighting with motion sensors while vegetation would be planted on strategic sections of the beach.
Barbados attracts a fair number of Hawksbills, which mainly nest in the sheltered area between Coconut Court and Needhams Point from May to September. The turtles are monitored annually by members of the Barbados Sea Turtle Project, who research and track their movements as well as ensure that newly hatched turtles reach the sea.