by Linda Straker
- Levera Wetlands, Grenada’s only Ramsar site, designated in May 2012
- Beach close to wetlands is a known leatherback turtle nesting area
- Eco-tourism project boardwalk has slowly submerged into Levera pond because of rising water
An eco-tourism project within Grenada’s only Ramsar site is under water, and the non-governmental organisation responsible for its shared management has written to the Government expressing its concerns.
The organisation’s board is currently awaiting a response with the hope that measures can be implemented to remedy the situation and stop the loss of mangroves and other species.
The Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental environmental treaty, was established by UNESCO on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, and came into force on 21 December 1975. The Levera Wetlands was in May 2012 designated Grenada’s only Ramsar site because the wetland is of international importance. Among the unique features of the Levera Wetlands national park area is a pond which has become a tourist attraction because of the various species of birds and other animal life.
The eco-tourism project includes a boardwalk and lookout house, but in recent months that boardwalk has slowly sunk into the pond because of rising water. “As you know, in the latter part of 2022, we had a lot of rain, an unusual amount of rain, and based on our observation, the water started rising during that rainy period,” said Claudette Pitt, a member of the Board of the St Patrick Environmental and Community Tourism Organisation (SPECTO).
SPECTO is a non-profit environmental and community tourism advocacy group based in the parish of St Patrick. It engages the community in protecting and conserving the endangered leatherback turtle and developing alternative livelihoods based on environmental conservation and activism. The beach close to the wetlands is a known leatherback turtle nesting area.
The Board of SPECTO has sent a letter to the relevant government ministry explaining that based on its monitoring of the area, some severe degradations to the Levera pond and the ecosystem, in general, are being affected. Among the observations were the loss of trees, particularly mangroves, and the rise of water to uncontrolled levels in the pond.
“We are concerned as to why the pond has not been able to burst its seams to create the conditions of inflows and outflows of the ecosystems,” said Pitt, who anticipated that all parties will come together to decide on the way forward. “However, we are awaiting official correspondence for us to speak with the relevant government officials. We had a change in administration, and we are hoping to share with them our concern for the tourism project in Levera as well as other concerns relating to our project, but we are still waiting,” she said.
She believes that the rise in water could result from several factors, with the heavy rains as one of the reasons. “This boardwalk was a project funded by various institutions. It cost more than EC$75,000 to build and now most of it is under water. A trail that was created from the boardwalk to the beach is just flooded, and we are concerned. Some type of action is needed,” she said.
This is not the first time the area is flooded, but it is the worst seen so far. Traditionally, water buildup is because the water’s exit area is blocked with sand, which will naturally burst and allow outflow to the sea. However, the sand has built up very high this time, and the outflow appears sluggish.
“The situation is one where we can allow nature to take its course, or we intervene and manually open a channel so that the water recedes,” said a forestry official.
Many years ago this water would flow to the sea via the outlet at Levera Beach. The road and bridge now lay in ruins and the remnant of the bridge is blocking the flow to the sea. This was observed on my last trip. In days gone by this bridge and road gave access to Sauteurs. It’s a shame this was allowed to happen.
When this boardwalk was built allowance should have been made for flooding in the first place. All wetlands fluctuate throughout their existence. Rising and falling water levels are the whole point of wetlands in nature. You have allowed degradation at Mount Hartman too. More creation of concrete developments. Concrete REPELLS water causing flooding, you need WETLANDS to hold and absorb water as well as Mangroves and trees to prevent erosion. Stupidity and greed destroy all the islands. We come for nature and your culture NOT golf courses, huge hotels and especially NOT developments by the Chinese and Russians.
No Mangroves are to be removed from the wetlands. This is why they are so special they survive in those conditions. You have already destroyed so many areas around the island like La Sagesse. You are CREATING your own problems with these inadvisable developments. Niw you have that development at Levera going to destroy the TURTLES breeding beach. NO ONE should be using that beach for everyday TOURISM . There shouldn’t be another GOLF COURSE either. You cannot supply water to the HOMES on tge island. This golf course will demand water and also poison the fresh water source and pollute the ocean with fertilizer. WAKE UP GRENADA!!
Am seriously hoping some action is taken soon as there seems to be a serious disregard for the RAMSAR site in Livera and the turtle nesting sites on the beach.
St Patrick is once again being ignored in the greater scheme of things, where is the plan for the beaches in Mt Craven/Mt Rodney, why are we allowing 16 stores hotels in Livera, a pristine mangrove and ecosystem?
Interesting, but when you remove a substantial quantity of trees and vegetation from the surrounding lands, there will inevitably be less absorption of rainwater and, as a result, water will find its way to the lowest point, that being the lake and hence rising water levels.
Quite so… Developers must understand the effects of their work and the resulting negative environmental impact. Levera is but one example of their disregard for balance within Grenada eco systems.