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Copy of letter to Mr. Peter Hodgson.
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The Government of Grenada’s intention to de-list the Hartman Estate as a National Park
so it can be to sold for a luxury property development shows a lamentable lack of concern,
not only for the future of the country’s national bird – the Grenada Dove -- but for the
whole notion of conservation and the preservation of critical natural habitats.
We believe the decision to proceed would be an astonishing and shameful reversal, one
that would reflect badly on everyone concerned with the project. It isn’t only that the Mount
Hartman Estate/Dove Sanctuaries will be abandoned to luxury development -- even
though such a complete dismantling of a National Parkis almost unheard of; it is also the
fact that the Estate qualifies as an Important Bird Area (IBA), because it is the most
secure home to the Grenada Dove and to eleven other restricted range species. None of
these creatures lives in isolation, or apart from the complex web of its habitat, which is a
critically important part of Grenada’s biodiversity.
There is a terrible irony in the Government’s willingness to threaten the continued existence
of Grenada’s National Bird – which is a symbol of the Country’s distinctiveness and
its culture – simply to provide sea-views to people from away.
Between sixty and eighty million people in the United States watch birds, and
in Britain there are over a million paid up members in The Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds. The numbers in Canada will certainly be comparable. At a
time when there’s a growing concern, indeed a terrible sense of unease -- both by responsible
Governments and their peoples -- about what we are doing to the
Natural World, these numbers will continue to grow.
It is becoming clear in Canada, as it has been in Europe for some time now, that environmental
concerns have become a central political issue. It must also be evident that the
same concerns already have a growing impact on the tourism industry.
For these reasons, if the Government of Grenada proceeds with this destructive proposal,
it will not only be undermining the Grenada dove’s chances of survival, it will also be
inflicting serious damage to the island’s reputation as a marvellous and unique tourist destination.
Given that Four Seasons Hotels and Resort will have its head sticking clearly up out of the
trenches, and this issue will generate widespread publicity, it does not seem possible to us
that your reputation will not be tarnished by this project.
Surely there is alternative way to proceed?
Sincerely,
Margaret Atwood Graeme Gibson,
Joint Presidents, the Rare Bird Club
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