Nat’l Marine Park to be established on Anegada and other areas
Government is planning to establish new national parks across the territory; including a land and marine park in Anegada.
Minister of Natural Resources Vincent Wheatley made the announcement in a recent public forum on social media.
He said the establishment of these national parks across the BVI will facilitate the protection of many endangered indigenous animal and plant species; along with generating additional revenue for the territory.
“Anegada has one of the world’s largest collection of wrecks and we think it must be protected from piracy and so forth. So by declaring it a marine national park, we’ll make sure that those wrecks remain there for the next 100, 200, 300 years. That is the proposal that’s currently on the books to come through. That can come through any day now,” he stated.
“The thing about having a marine park in Anegada; [it] would be a great revenue generator for the island of Anegada once it is properly protected [and] advertised. Persons would be happy to go out there and dive and the revenue raised can go to the Anegada community,” the minister added.
Other areas for parks
Wheatley said additional areas to be listed as national parks include Beef Island, as well as Belmont and Smugglers Cove.
He said six to seven other areas are to become \ national parks.
“We want to make national parks but you know national parks do require funding for upkeep, so until the funding is readily available, it will be a bit of a challenge to actually get all of those things done in a very timely manner,” the minister explained.
Anegada Rock Iguana unique
Meanwhile, Director of the National Parks Trust, Dr Cassander Titley-O’Neal highlighted the significance of Anegada to her organisation.
She said apart from the flamingos, there exist many other endangered species such as the Anegada Rock Iguana on the sister island.
“You have the Anegada Rock Iguana (Cyclura pinguis) which has now been upgraded on the IUCN website as a critically endangered specie and we have two part-time persons over there right now and they feed those iguanas,” she stated.
“The reason why we have that headstart facility is because of invasive animals such as dogs and cats. They eat the youngsters. So what they do is they feed them then they go and collect the small juvenile ones and we have them in a headstart facility where we feed them on lettuce, carrots, grapes and a whole flow of other things, and once they reach a certain size, then we release them back into the environment,” she explained.
Dr cTitley-O’Neal further said Anegada is the only place where the aforementioned species of iguana can be found roaming freely.
The sister island also has a high number of flora and fauna which is linked to the non-volcanic makeup of the island.
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Why don’t you fix the basketball ? court for the kids ?not even a little park nth for the kids of Anegada sigh ?
So you are going to stop people lobster fishing where they have been fishing for generations. You are stealing land that has been walled for generations without title so you can have a park? Did you bother to ask anyone from Anegada about this move? As all your online meetings are full of people from VG and everything is VG VG VG
You allowed a person to kill the mngroves and backfill to reclaim land that doesn’t belong to them and did NOTHING they are still buiding and extending omn that property.
You allow people to build on Crown land without permission and did NOTHING and allow them to keep building and operating.
NDP already made a marine park that took Lobster fishing grounds away after generations and now you want to reduce the area even more?
You allowed someone to clear ground with orchids only found on Anegada so they could keep livestock and didn’t care or do you even know this happened?
The national park when made must not include peoples generational land as this is in the constitution.
Different standards for different people!
Fantastic news!! Happy that some areas will be protected for future generations. The BVI is so beautiful and it is heart breaking to see how people just dump dirt along the coast and block the view just to park their trucks. The enjoyment of the many is automatically taken away by the actions of a few and no one stops them. The ability of the coastline to withstand hurricanes is also greatly diminished as a consequence.
And while the topic is on coast line and national parks protection, please also take access to beaches very seriously.
If there is legislation protecting the rights of people and natives full access to the beach, it has not been enforced for decades with regards to Trunk Bay in Virgin Gorda especially.
Hence, from now on, it must be firmly stipulated in writing, with dire consequences if breached, that before any final land and development deal can be sealed, there must be a written agreement for the purchaser and or developer to produce a road way to any and all beach fronts.
It is very saddening that many Virgin Gordians who have family ties to Trunk Bay and very fond family experiences and memories cannot access that beach by road anymore. That is or should be illegal and represents a breach of our soveriegnty and human freedoms.
To have that freedom taken away to roam that land from road to beach to enjoy the environment, nature, atmosphere, ambience and sea water is simply discriminatory and arparthied.
Hope the Honorable Minister will correct that blatant discriminatory and arparthied practice soon.