TRANSFORMING BARBUDA FROM DESPOILMENT BACK TO NATURE

TRANSFORMING BARBUDA FROM DESPOILMENT BACK TO NATURE

BY CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON

John Paul DeJoria has been the champion of many causes in his life, people, animal environmental and conservation causes.

He is a self-made billionaire who started out selling encyclopedia’s door to door and along that difficult and challenging road to success he discovered that what is more important than money is sharing his success and helping others to change the world for the better.

John Paul has been our most generous supporter in our cause of ocean conservation for more than three decades and in the last two years secured two ships for us to protect and defend whales.

Today John Paul DeJoria along with renown marine biologist Dr. Deborah Brosnan is announcing the launching of an Innovation Learning Lab on Barbuda, that will provide a place to expand on the science and design of reefs so we can learn to build more effective reefs against wave action and climate change.

This is just the latest action taken to restore the ecological integrity of an island that was for decades exploited by sand miners, sea turtle and turtle egg poachers and over 90% of the native vegetation was destroyed.. Since this project began sea turtle nesting sites and sea grasses have been restored, sand mining has been reduced, and jobs have been provided to Barbudians in the ongoing work to undo decades of ecological damage.

John Paul asked Dr. Brosnan to work with him on developing a vision for environment, community and economic sustainability and towards that end they created the OceanShot Project.

Now one thing that I have discovered over the years is that no good deed goes unpunished and the OceanShot project to bring back Barbuda to its natural state and at the same time provide economic opportunities for native Barbudians is under attack from a small group of disgruntled residents unhappy with the fact that sea turtles are off the menu, and they can no longer sell and export sand, the very foundation of the island itself.

How can anyone oppose a sea-turtle monitoring program which has transformed an island where sea turtles were being poached into a program to hire and train local Barbudians to protect and conserve the turtles instead? This program is now in its fifth year and has been an amazing success story. Additionally, the sand dunes have been restored with native vegetation to aid the sea turtles with nesting and hatching. Local Barbudian, are abely and prouding runing several biodiversity monitoring programs.

OceanShot has an international team of scientists working to design reef structures to protect the coast and help to build up sand to provide habitat for biodiversity – the first test deployments had 35 fish species in a few months (species that would otherwise not have had a habitat). Locally trained local community members are tending coral nurseries, monitoring and protecting the reef modules.

Now who and why would anyone be opposed to this?

Let me introduce someone that I have had indirect dealings with in the past.

John Mussington the man who once sold himself out to the Japanese whalers and fishing industry. In exchange for 12 million dollars he authorized the construction of a fisheries complex resulting in the destruction of mangroves in the Codrington Lagoon National Park. Built in exchange for Antigua’s vote for Japanese whaling in the International Whaling Commission. Now because of John Paul DeJoria the government of Antigua no longer supports the Japanese at the IWC meetings.

Mussington has been a member of the sand-mining committee and led a sand mining development project in mangrove habitats. This guy Mussington is supported by a British citizen who fancies himself a Barbudian secessionist claiming to represent the interests of Barbudians who wish to continue the exploitation of Barbuda’s natural resources.

These two men would not be taken seriously except for the fact that they have solicited and received the support of the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN)

The Global Legal Action Network claims to be representing the rights of Barbudians who opposed the ecological reconstruction of the island of Barbuda because they claim it violates traditional land use by some Barbudians who once profited from sand mining, fishing, turtle poaching and selling off fishing right to Japanese companies.

I have seen what Dr. Deborah Brosnan has accomplished on Barbuda, I have personally known her for two decades and I’ve known John Paul DeJoria even longer and therefore I trust and support for what they have done and intend to do to benefit the ecology and the people of Barbuda.

What mystifies me is why GLAN would support a man who sold out Antigua’s vote to Japan to support the killing of whales, who destroyed a mangrove habitat to build a fishery complex and who actively is involved with sand-mining while having the audacity to claim he is a conservationist.

I am very happy that the OceanShot is announcing today the Innovation Learning Lab on Barbuda. It’s good for both the people of Barbuda and the natural flora and fauna on and around the island.

Photo # 1.cpwf OceanShot outplanting corals on reef modules to help restore corals and build reef resilience around Barbuda, that has already lost much of its living coral

Photos 2 and 3. Members of the Barbuda Sea Turtle Monitoring Team collecting data and monitoring and protecting sea turtle nests on Barbuda

#johnpauldejoria #oceanshot #Barbuda #johnmussington #CPWF #captainpaulwatsonfoundation #captainpaulwatsonfoundationuk #CaptainPaulWatson #coralreefconservation #coralreefrestoration #seaturtleconservation #SeaTurtle #marinebiology #goodpiratesofthecaribbean @johnpauldejoria DEJORIA JOHN PAUL

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