The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Ten years ago, a foreign developer was allowed to destroy thousands of acres of mangrove forest in North Bimini without needing any special permit from the government to do so. Today, concerned Bahamians trying to regrow these rare and vital natural resources, are being blocked by the powers that be, and told they need a permit. It really is the height of irony.

Even worse, the permits that we supposedly now need to protect and defend our precious environment, are being withheld without good reason or adequate explanation, while mangroves and other precious marine and terrestrial resources continue to disappear before our very eyes.

The ecological disaster in Bimini is a glaring example of a trend that has played out around the country for decades. Foreign developers and private landowners who are connected with the ‘right people’ in government, have been allowed to destroy mangrove forests with impunity.

Mangroves are critical to our coastal ecosystem. They prevent erosion, serve as the birthplace and nursery for many of our most precious marine resources, and protect human populations from the impact of hurricanes. Studies have shown that mangroves significantly reduce the incidence and level of flooding, as well as the severity of damage caused by flooding, during catastrophic weather events.

So just imagine: the terrible destruction suffered by the victims of Hurricane Dorian might have been lessened, if acre upon acre of mangrove had not been removed from Abaco and Grand Bahama in the decades leading up to that terrible national catastrophe.

And now, when Bahamians in Abaco and Grand Bahama, or in Nassau, Eleuthera and Andros for that matter, try to replant and regrow the mangroves, try to protect themselves and each other with the threat of ever more powerful storms looming on the horizon, those in positions of power are preventing them from doing so.

It really is the height of irony.

RICKY JOHNSON

Nassau,

May 2, 2022.