AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Reef Village Development

Sunandsand, excuse me for saying so but I think you are delusional. To say that the wildlife has hardly been affected by acres of development on wetland is just amazing to me. Is it possible that you are seeing an abundant amount of wildlife in one section because what was spread out over acres and acres now has to share and survive in a much smaller patch? Think about it!!

Sunandsand
If you had begun your daily commute to wherever one morning and someone had installed 4 spine jarring speedbumps, overnight,on your route, I find it hard to believe that you would not complain.
Today they have three ropes piled up about 8" or so in front of the time share shack. That will definitley stop all carts, not just slow them down.

JZB, you are likely right, but from what I've seen, the wildlife is doing OK. Again, as I said, I'm not there full time, so don't claim to know what it's like away from there.
BontheB, I would not like to have "spine Jarring speedbumps", any more than I liked the huge holes and lakes we had to drive through on the road. Which is the lesser of the evils? I would be furious if I had to slow down by the timeshare ppl. I equate them to used car salesmen, only more obnoxious. The road isn't owned by RV, is it? Who is to stop anyone from pulling the ropes up and disposing of them? Or, why not talk to Jeff and see if he could make them smaller? Just a suggestion.
I'm done, and outta here.

I am totally amazed by "discussion" about Reef Village. Few things comes to mind reading all the posts:
1. I'll go on the limb and assume that people who complain the most already own houses or condos, mot likely somewhere north of the cut. If this is the case, it reminds me of East Coast suburbanites (you know, people who moved to 'burbs yesterday and today complain about urban sprawl)
2. I am positive, that there was no vegetation whatsoever where those houses or condos were built, otherwise wouldn't they also participated in "destruction of the environment"??
3. I am not an expert, but how exactly clearing quarter of the mile of mangroves destroys habitat on the island 25 miles long? Some birds probably had to move few hundred yards away, but this hardly makes them extinct.
4. "Manufacturing the land to build condos" - isn't this practice called "filling" and quite widely used on AC and other islands?
5. Speed bumps: they may be an annoyance and they probably are. But what you rather have: a road with few speed bumps, knowing where they are, or a road with millions of potholes, not knowing how deep they are (particularly funny after big rain)?

If you don't like the ropes why don't you just cut them free? They've been laid on public land and whatever private individual put them there will have no legal basis for complaining.

Thank you Pam, again, for saying it the way it is...

SunandSand (God, I hate these screen names, not knowing who I'm talking to), you apparently don't know half of what happened here. The lagoon was a beautiful place (admittedly the road was half-way flooded throughout most of rainy season, but so what) and an important stop for an abundance of birds on their way south every year.

The lagoon was completely and totally ruined by the development, and all you are saying is "what is built, is built". Are you friggin' kidding me? Do you live here? Do you care about the sewerage problem from such developments and the fact that the environment is being screwed by developers who couldn'r care less? Do you understand that we have had an administration where you could purchase a permit for anything if you were just greedy and rich enough?

Some of us live here, and cannot just get a US green card or whatever and move to another place to hang out when this island has been ruined; and that is just part of the reason why we care. You should respect this and not talk down to permanent residents who are concerned about the future of their home and the general destruction of our environment.

... And to Sail&Dive (or whatever your name is): You automatically assume that everyone who complains have done the same thing and "already own houses or condos". Well, you're damn right that most of us do live here, but contrary to what you think, most of us merely cut down some trees on our properties, so we could build our houses. We did not all engage in obtaining shady permits to destroy multiple acres of waterfront. Also, you are comparing us to unfriendly US East Coast suburbanites... Seriously, have you not learned anything from visiting our island? This is an extremely friendly and welcoming place, where newcomers are receiving more support from local residents than anywhere else on this planet. Just don't question our right to speak our minds when devolpers with nothing but profit in sight are messing with our fragile environment in the name of the holy Dollar.

Weile,
My comment about East Coast suburbanites was aimed at people who bought or build property in the last few years, not at permanent residents. It is obvious. As to the island being friendly - you are 110% right - AC is the friendliest place I know.
Corrupt administration? - Sorry to say that, but you elected them.
Screen names - yours does not reveal much either; same goes to your profile.

Weile is my name! has been since I was baptised back in the late fifties...
I don't need a profile. I post under my own name and it is quite easy to get a hold of me (check old posts or google, that's what people do these days); and I still do not understand why people are picking silly screen names when they are posting opinions that they are hopefully not ashamed of.
Sorry if I got you wrong. I just got slightly pissed off with you, because I felt you were sitting "up there" telling us "down here" what is right and wrong for our homes and community. Surely you didn't mean to...
P.S.: One can't necessarily blame a people for a bad government. If you only have the choice between the plague and a bleeding ulcer, you are bound to be sick, no matter what.
P.P.S.: Reef Village still looks like crap!

this is an excerpt from an article by the WWF. admittedly, it is a few years old, but that should not affect the validity of the info. i am not invloving my opinion here, just reporting facts:
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Deforestation threatens the cradle of reef diversity

Mangroves play a crucial part in coastal tropical biodiversity. First and foremost, they act as a nursery for many species that live in and around coral reefs. The inter-weaving underwater roots in a mangrove forest create a multitude of niches where great numbers of fish, crustaceans, and turtles find shelter and breed out of reach of voracious predators found out on the reef.

A study on the Mesoamerican reef has revealed that there are as many as 25 times more fish of some species on reefs close to mangrove areas than in areas where mangroves have been cut down. This has an important effect for both the marine world and the people who rely on its resources.

"Mangroves play a vital role in coastal fisheries," says Dr Ghislaine Llewellyn, co-author of the study published in the February issue of Nature magazine. "They are incredibly important for maintaining fish diversity and abundance in the tropics."

Acting as a buffer zone between land and sea, mangroves also help create the right conditions for coral reef growth by filtering sediments and pollutants that would otherwise choke or poison the coral. Were it not for mangroves, coral reefs would be even more 'stressed' than they already are from the variety of others pressures surrounding them. Mangroves perform a similar protective function for the coastline, saving millions of dollars each year in coastal erosion damage.

Despite these multiple values, mangroves are disappearing at an alarming rate. Once abundant along tropical tidal coasts and estuaries worldwide, many mangrove forests have disappeared or are degraded today.

"The current rate of mangrove deforestation has implications not only for coral reefs and mangrove forests, but also for biodiversity, fisheries, and livelihoods in the entire region," says Dr Melanie McField, WWF's coral reef scientist on the Mesoamerican reef.

Well, Weile, I sure don't live there,(although I would love to) and of course, I am environmentally concerned. But, tell me, what does all this bitching about the road have to do with what is built? The complaining about the dredging and building and the looks of the condos and the sewerage (which, by the way is NOT affecting the environment. It is an EPA approved system) and destruction of the island has been hashed out several times. This time, it was about the road, and all of this other stuff has been dredged up again.
I have been going to the island for many years, have seen many changes, some good, some terrible. I hate the destruction, but don't see how complaining about what is already built will change anything. I was just trying to get this conversation on a line that would make a positive change. Complaining does nothing, but perhaps make others think that all of the people who live in paradise have so little to do that they complain about stuff that is not going to change. Get off your soap box and do something that will make a difference. I think this issue has been beat to death, personally. Unless you who are there act on it, rather than just complaining about it, you are no better than the ones who create this destruction. It's easy to complain, very difficult to get a movement started to stop things. I don't know the "ropes" needed to get this moving, but seems that ONE OF YOU there could take the bull by the horns and get it started. Maybe in your spare time? Do something proactive.