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The
Tobago Cays in Crisis
DECK
VIEW FROM TI KANOT BY CHRIS DOYLE
The
Tobago Cays are unique in the Caribbean. This little group of
islands protected by a horseshoe reef is visually spectacular
and holds a magical untouched quality that makes it not only a
national treasure but a beauty spot of international fame. Many
more people on our planet have heard about the Grenadines, and
particularly the Tobago Cays, than have heard about St. Vincent.
As
is true in many places in the world where the locals take for
granted the world-class attractions "in their own backyard", it
is only recently that many Vincentians have come to appreciate
and take stock of the true value of their first National Marine
Park, the Tobago Cays.
National
Park, International Significance
Not
only an idyllic getaway for Vincentians, these little islands
form a major attraction for bringing visitors to St. Vincent &
the Grenadines from all over the world, often via neighboring
nations including Grenada, St. Lucia, Barbados and Martinique.
So much so, that the Tobago Cays usually feature on brochures
put out by tour and yacht charter companies operating in these
nearby islands.
It
is a shame that the Tobago Cays' fame has developed in such a
way that the Cays are probably more appreciated by nationals of
many other countries than they are by the people of St. Vincent.
Much of this is because many Vincentians have not had a chance
to visit the Cays and thereby understand their impact on all the
senses. This is something that needs to change. The Tobago Cays
belong to every Vincentian, and everyone should see what they
own.
It
is worth stating at the outset that the Tobago Cays in no way
need "improving": they cannot look better than they do now. What
is needed is some delicate management that will halt and then
reverse some of the ravages upon the land and reefs created by
both the locals and the visitors who use them. This loving care
needs to incorporate the interests of the current vendors who
come and sell in the Cays, the visiting yachts, the day-charter
boats and the dive boats. The last thing we need is to build anything
on the Cays.
An
attempt has been made to get the Cays run as a proper Marine Park,
but while a lot of groundwork was done and some good policy decisions
made, it somehow did not come to real fruition.
The
Cays are now at a point of crisis because the SVG Government clearly
wishes to "do something" about them and appears to be in a hurry
to appoint new management. One of their options is to accept a
proposal from Palm Island Resorts Ltd (PIRL), a for-profit resort
management company, acquired in 1999 by Robert A. Barrett. This
would involve handing management of the Tobago Cays Marine Park
over to PIRL on a 25-year management agreement.
Another
proposal has been submitted to Government by the Mayreau Environmental
Development Organization (MEDO), a Grenadines-based NGO.
As
I write this, I have copies of both the PIRL and the MEDO proposals
in front of me, along with an evaluation of the Tobago Cays Marine
Park (TCMP) prepared for the government of St. Vincent in May
2002 by the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
PIRL:
Qualified to Develop
The
PIRL proposal contains only two relevant pages. The first outlines
Mr. Barrett's qualifications and describes his environmental record.
The first supposed recommendation is that on Palm Island he effected
"the transformation of mosquito infested ponds into thriving fish
and bird preserves".
The
fact that Mr. Barrett extols destroying natural brackish and fresh-water
habitats, that happen to contain mosquitoes, by flooding them
with seawater shows an extraordinary level of naïveté about the
environment that clearly precludes him from any consideration
as manager of a Marine Park. Most of his other achievements relate
to things like solar heating, sewage systems and hydroponic greenhouses,
things that indicate that Mr. Barrett is qualified to do what
he has done - develop hotels, not manage parks. The proposal then
goes on to describe the team PIRL could bring in as resources
to the TCMP. "Specifically, Mr. Barrett has over 40 years of success
in the Caribbean and international marketing and tourism industries.
Furthermore, PIRL's proven Management Team includes: certified
accountants, attorneys, international marketing and tourism experts,
destination management professionals, architects, water craft
experts, engineers, decorated former law officials and environmental
consultants to name just a few."
The team members that produced the well-manicured and heavily
built up Palm Island Resort are hardly the people you need to
run a Marine Park.
So
much for PIRL's qualifications; now to their proposal's summary,
which is a single sheet of paper containing nine paragraphs. (If
there is a more complete proposal, I have not seen it.) The first
item is: "To the greatest extent possible, PIRL will manage the
TCMP in accordance with the principles set forth in the revised
Tobago Cays Management Plan (attached as exhibit 'A')."
What
is "to the greatest extent possible" supposed to mean? There is
no attempt here to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the
revised Tobago Cays Management Plan. Furthermore, I can find no
stated goal, except to get Mr. Barrett in charge; no indication
of any understanding of the TCMP's problems; no direction and
no worthwhile ideas - in fact absolutely nothing that would indicate
that Mr. Barrett is in any way competent to even be on the Board
of Directors of the Park, let alone be responsible for managing
it. What he promises to do is what he does best - to develop.
PIRL proposes to build in the Cays: namely to put up a reception
centre, a power-generating windmill, a big dock (for cruise ship
launches? Yachties don't mind getting their feet wet!) and ranger
houses. Also, as you would expect of a hotelier, he promises to
employ people, and supply boats.
The
crux is the last paragraph in which he offers to collect user
fees, giving only half the profit - "after expenses" - to the
St. Vincent & the Grenadines Government, and guarantees to pay
the Government at least EC$134,410 the first year, EC$201,615
the second year and EC$268,820 the third year and every year thereafter.
In other words, in exchange for long-term control of the Vincentian
people's national crown jewel, the pride of not only St. Vincent
& the Grenadines but the entire Eastern Caribbean, the Government
would only get about US$100,000 a year after the third year. It
does allow for more to be paid if profits are larger, but it is
unlikely this will happen as PIRL would be entirely in control
of what constitutes "expenses", so they could control the level
of profit.
While there are no accurate figures, the number of visitors to
the Cays per year is probably in the order of 70,000. If each
of these were charged a Park entry fee of EC$10, the annual income
would be some EC$700,000 (over US$261,000), which rather than
being divided with an entrepreneur could go directly to preserving
the Cays as a pristine, untouched coral cay environment - a proud
treasure for locals and a rare treat for visitors in today's world
of increasingly wall-to-wall development (and that includes pseudo
"eco"-development).
It
is hard to believe that any responsible government could take
a proposal like PIRL's seriously. Handing over control of one
of your nation's most valuable natural assets to a newcomer (four
years in SVG) with no relevant qualifications, to operate for
profit, is a sure recipe for disaster. It is also an insult to
national self-esteem and moreover, will likely damage the overall
economy (what happens when "The Natural Place to Be" has no more
natural places?). It runs counter to accepted practice in the
Caribbean. Virtually all other highly valued sites are run under
the auspices of a non-profit body such as the BVI's National Parks
Trust, Bonaire's Island Land and Marine Park Authority, or a qualified
NGO. There is considerable funding available for projects like
the TCMP from sources such as the OAS, the EU, the OECS's ESDU
and NOAA. These could take a burden off the Government by offering
very significant funds for start-up. But it is important to note
that these organizations will completely wash their hands of the
Tobago Cays Marine Park if the "for private profit" model is accepted.
A "for-private-profit National Park" would be an international
laughing stock.
MEDO:
Determined to Protect
By
contrast, I find the MEDO proposal touching, as well as more detailed
and better thought out. The MEDO group shows a genuine love for
the area - surely a prerequisite for the protective management
style required. Residents of Mayreau are clearly very much affected
by what happens in the Tobago Cays, as Mayreau sits on the edge
of the Park. MEDO is a hundred times more qualified to manage
this sensitive environmental area than PIRL: in addition to their
families' generations of experience in the Cays, they have in
recent years brought in overseas guest lecturers on tourism and
the environment, attended relevant regional workshops and visited
St. Lucia's SMMA Marine Park on a fact-finding mission. MEDO's
proposal shows that they understand many of the Park's current
problems, and that they have some specific ideas which should
certainly be part of the solution.
MEDO
do not have a complete grasp however, as they do not really know
where to go with the vendor issue and one of their main proposals
is to put in yacht moorings to "protect the reef" - a completely
unnecessary expense as yachts do not anchor on the reef (dinghy
moorings for snorkellers are another story), and the sand is some
of the best holding in the Caribbean.
MEDO
sat as an NGO on the last TCMP Board, and if nothing else they
should be on the next. If the Government want to wash their hands
of the work of running the TCMP, handing the whole thing over
to MEDO would be far better than handing it to PIRL.
Where
Do Groups Fit?
One
confusing point arising from these proposals is where a group
such as PIRL or MEDO would fit in. The structure of TCMP involves
a Board of Directors who set policy and tell a manager what to
do; the manager actually runs the Park and hires the rangers and
other staff. Having the management be run by a group means we
then in effect have two managers - the manager person and the
management group. There may be some advantages to this, as if
one manager person did not work out, the management group might
be able to make a replacement without reference to the Board,
who would deal with the group as "the manager".
A
Professional Document
The
third relevant document is an evaluation of the Tobago Cays National
Marine Park done at the request of the SVG Government by ECLAC
with the assistance of Tom van't Hof, as part of the Dutch-funded
project "Development of a Regional Marine-based Tourism Strategy".
This is a professional document. It shows a clear understanding
of the TCMP, its problems and possible solutions, along with the
changes in legislation necessary to make it work.
The
document has only two obvious problems that I can see, both solvable,
and the question of how to get the Park going needs to be addressed.
The
first problem is that Tom van't Hof sees the TCMP as a non-profit
entity with all funds going to the park authority, while the SVG
Government clearly wants to make money from the Park.
Any
government's need for revenue is understandable. As a first step,
SVG should enforce the requirement that vessels visiting the Tobago
Cays clear into the country first. Right now, it is an accepted
fact than many visiting yachts don't bother to clear in. Park
officials could be authorized to check yachts' documents to make
sure they have cleared in and paid their "head tax". If completing
clearance formalities into SVG and paying the average fee of EC$35
per person were a requirement for yachts being allowed to visit
the Tobago Cays, and as the vast majority of yacht visitors wish
to visit the Cays, this alone will bring in considerable funds.
If
the SVG Government needs yet more revenue, maybe it could be structured
thus: if we assume a park fee of US$5, collected by park officials,
maybe $3 could be the Park entry fee and go to the non-profit
park, and $2 could be something like an "environmental tax" that
goes to the Government. This would bring them in an estimated
US$140,000 per year - far more than offered by PIRL. It would
also leave the Park authority free to seek grants as a non-profit
entity.
The
second problem I see is that Tom suggests amending Article 8 of
the Maine Parks Regulation of 1998, with respect to unsupervised
diving: "Amend this article to allow supervised diving only".
My problem with this is when such a measure was taken in Saba,
the number of visiting yachts dropped by some 40 percent. Decisions
about diving should only be made with the interested parties,
including the charter companies. What makes more sense is to allow
the Board to control and/or stop independent diving only in such
zones within the Park as they feel necessary. This allows the
Park to protect places like Mayreau Gardens where it is better
for people go with a dive shop, and allow unsupervised divers
to enjoy other zones designated for them.
One
Short Step
Much
of the groundwork for a proper park has been accomplished. We
are only a short step from a park that is environmentally protected,
locally run, and a financial benefit rather than a strain. As
a matter of immediate priority, the ECLAC study's recommendations
need to be reviewed and the legal amendments taken care of.
Then
an experienced Marine Park professional should be brought in for
about three months to get the TCMP up and running. There are two
really good ones in the Caribbean. Tom van't Hof is one and Kai
Wulf of the SMMA is another. I imagine either would be willing.
Kai Wulf would be an excellent choice because being in St. Lucia
he is closer (Tom is based in Saba), and is that much more familiar
with Windward Islands issues and people.
Given
that the Tobago Cays Marine Park is this close to success, it
seems especially sad that the whole thing may be handed over to
long-term control by an unqualified, overseas-based individual
and his "team". There are Vincentians capable of managing the
nation's hospitals, schools and Government Ministries; surely
there are Vincentians capable of managing the nation's Marine
Park.
Things
are happening fast. If you care about this issue, now is the time
for action. There are petitions now being circulated by a non-partisan
group in St. Vincent called Friends of the Tobago Cays, which
you can sign, or you can write your own letters about the Tobago
Cays to Compass or to the Prime Minister of St. Vincent & the
Grenadines:
The Right Honorable Dr. Ralph Gonsalves
Prime Minster's Office
Kingstown
St. Vincent & the Grenadines Caribbean
Compass,
January 2004
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