Caribbean Yachting and Marinas in an Era of Climate Change
Overview—Battening Down the Hatches: Yachting, Marinas, and Sustainability
The Caribbean is one of the world’s outstanding regions for yacht cruising. While yachting and marinas are spread throughout the Caribbean, the most important concentrations are in the Northwest region (Puerto Rico, British Virgin Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands), Leeward Islands (St. Maarten/St. Martin, St. Barts, Antigua/Barbuda, and Guadeloupe), Southern region (Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago), and Windward Islands (Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados).1 Unlike many other sectors of the tourism industry, yachting offers both accommodations (onboard) and recreation (sailing, pleasure cruising, fishing, diving, etc.). Similarly, its economic benefits to local communities come from two streams: recreation and services. Most Caribbean islands tend to focus on one or the other, while few countries take advantage of both streams (although Grenada appears positioned to do so).2 Trinidad and Tobago, for instance, have established themselves as service centers, while St. Vincent and the Grenadines focus on marine recreation.
Expansion of yachting and marinas in the Caribbean is closely tied to two factors: the U.S. economy and hurricanes. In terms of the first, boat ownership and new marina construction in the Americas has followed the flow of U.S. vacationers, and more recently, North American and European retirees to the Caribbean, as well as to Mexico and Central America. A second key factor is the threat posed by hurricanes and other natural hazards, many linked to climate change. Most Caribbean islands are within the Caribbean Hurricane Belt, where the majority of Atlantic tropical storms are likely to occur.3 Between 1989 and 1999, three of the Caribbean’s major yachting destinations, Antigua/Barbuda, St. Martin/St. Maarten, and Puerto Rico, all suffered repeated damage and loss of business from hurricanes, as did the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the region’s most popular yacht charter destination.4 These islands were also hit hard by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, some of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, causing an estimated US$200 billion in damage to the region,5 including severe impacts to many resorts, hotels and marinas.6 The traditional hurricane season lasts from June 1 to November 30, but storms outside this range are increasingly likely due to the extension of warm ocean temperatures into the winter months. In addition, as hurricanes become increasingly frequent, fierce, and erratic, even islands outside the Hurricane Belt are not totally secure. Grenada, for instance, which has a growing number of marinas, was badly hit by hurricanes in 1999, 2004, and 2005.
While yachting is a marine activity, its facilities—namely, marinas and boatyards—must be constructed on shorelines and nearshore areas, making it also a component of coastal tourism.7 Marinas are necessary for the development of recreational boating and nautical tourism.8 These activities can provide significant positive impacts on coastal tourism businesses, as well as on commercial boating, technical services, and other industries. They can also benefit local communities, including supporting traditional subsistence activities such as fishing, as well as tourism-related small businesses.
History of Marinas in the Caribbean
Marinas developed slowly during the first half of the twentieth century. In the early 1900s, only the wealthy in the United States had pleasure boats and they built private harbors to dock them. After World War II, the U.S. middle class also began buying recreational boats, and demand for marinas increased. During the long economic expansion of the 1990s and most of the first decade of the twenty-first century, sales of motorboats and sailboats increased steadily, and in recent years, powerboats have been more popular among U.S. boat owners than sailboats.9 As pleasure boat sales increased, so did the demand for marinas. However, with the deep economic depression in the late 2000s, boat sales in the United States plummeted, many marinas closed, and new marina construction in the Caribbean slowed.
As the Caribbean has gradually recovered from this financial crisis, the number of yacht charters, production of large luxury yachts, and growth of marinas are once again increasing. In fact, marinas are viewed by some experts as a bellwether of economic recovery and the overall health of the Caribbean region. By 2013, new marina construction linked to high-end residential tourism development was a sign that the severe economic downturn was over. As Caribbean real estate executive James Burdess stated in 2013, “Over the last three years we have seen an increase in marinas being built and a large increase in the number of super yachts coming to the Caribbean.”10 In September 2013, Vacation News reported that “Rising demand for marina berths in the Caribbean [was] fueling new residential projects.”11 Indeed, in recent years, there has been a growing relationship between marinas and coastal resorts. Desire to live near the water has caused incredible demand for waterfront property. In many areas, developers have been buying up existing freestanding marinas and converting the land into more profitable luxury housing developments.12 Boat owners, in turn, are increasingly seeking destination marinas that offer more than simply fishing and cruising. Destination marinas typically include a mix of hotels and resorts, condo and vacation home developments, restaurants, retail shops, and sometimes, golf courses.
By 2013, the Caribbean had 113 marinas with a total of 13,469 berths, and another 8 marinas were under development. One new marina was Port Ferdinand on the northwest coast of Barbados, which opened in December 2013 with 120 berths, plus the first of 83 luxury apartment condos, each with price tags from US$2.1 million to $6.5 million (see Image 3.0.1). The apartments have waterside views overlooking the marina and come with their own berths. “Basically, a boat slip is like a hotel room,” says the Florida marina firm Richard Graves & Associates. “One accommodates the guest’s boat and the other accommodates the guest.”13
Image 3.0.1 Each home at Port Ferdinand includes access to a 50-plus foot yacht berth close by with duty-free yacht concessions14
The upshot of these trends may be that leisure boat ownership and private, rather than public, marinas are again becoming an attraction, primarily for wealthy elite, as was the case in the early and mid-twentieth century. This includes well-off retirees, many of them American. According to Richard Graves & Associates, “Marinas near upscale retirement locations fare particularly well.”15 Like golf courses that allow vacation homes to sell for more because they are on green space, vacation homes next to marinas command higher prices because they offer “blue views.” As elaborated below, expansion of marinas (much like golf courses) appears to be based, at least in part, on real estate speculation, rather than on realistic assessments of consumer demand for recreational boating.
Profile of Yachts and Marinas in the Caribbean
The Caribbean yachting sector today is far from homogeneous. A recent study in Grenada identified several main market segments of yachts: charters, short-term visitors (ranging from day cruises up to six-month stays), long-term visitors (including live aboards and second-home owners), and luxury yachts. Each segment has its own distinct customer behavior and spending patterns (see Case Study 3.2). One trend is the rapidly growing category of luxury yachts, including super- and megayachts. While definitions vary, superyachts are generally over 24 meters (about 79 feet) in length, while megayachts are typically over 30 meters (100 feet) and can be up to 100 meters (330 feet) or more, with a handful measuring between 500 and 600 feet.16 Such ships require professional crews to operate, and their price tags range from US$10 million to $100 million or more. By 2013, there were 4,600 superyachts, an increase of 25 percent in the previous five years, according to the UK-based Marina Projects.17 About 1,500 of these were available for charter, generally in the Mediterranean in the summer and the Caribbean in the winter. Their owners are an eclectic global mix of tycoons from the United States, Russia, South Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
Megayachts and superyachts typically have no real home port and are often registered, like cruise ships, with flags of convenience (see the Chapter 4 Overview) from countries they may never have visited. Popular flag of convenience countries for large yachts are the Cayman Islands, Marshall Islands, Isle of Man, and the British Virgin Islands. Docking rates for megayachts are two to four times higher than for normal size pleasure boats, and there is “a critical shortage throughout the world” of marinas with docks large enough to accommodate these giant pleasure boats.18 While recreational boating tends to be subject to fluctuations in the economy, wealthy owners of megayachts appear not to be seriously affected by economic downturns.19 Today, most new marinas, including those in the Caribbean, include slips and services for megayachts.
Marinas themselves vary considerably in terms of size and services. They can include a range of boating infrastructure for leisure activities and tourism, all under one management. A central component is wet slips (commonly called simply slips), which are berthing spaces designed for mooring individual boats. Berthing is usually provided by a fixed or floating dock connected to land, in a body of water that is sufficiently deep and provides adequate protection. Marinas can also include dry storage, onshore facilities for storing watercraft, including dry stacks that holds boats vertically in racks. Dry dock storage has become increasingly popular because it allows an operator to handle hundreds of boats on less waterfront property than a conventional wet slip marina. Dockage is a marina’s main profit center, and docking rates are charged on a daily, monthly, seasonal, or annual basis, with rates calculated by the length of the boat and the length of their stay.
Marinas operate in a competitive landscape. Because their construction and fixed operating costs are considerable, high occupancy rates are crucial to financial success. Most marinas cater to both annual and seasonal slip holders, and to casual or transient boaters. The profitability of individual marinas depends on their location, marketing, and sales of amenities and customized services. Today’s marinas offer a wide range of amenities, including electricity and water; television, phone, and internet hookups; bilge and sewage pump outs; maintenance and repair services; fuel, groceries, and supplies; bars and restaurants; laundry services; and chandleries selling nautical supplies and even boats. Marinas may also house government services, such as customs and police. And, as stated earlier, they are often part of larger resort or vacation home complexes.
The Economic Importance of the Caribbean Yachting Sector
While the yachting sector is less studied than either stay-over tourism in coastal resorts or ocean-based tourism via cruise ships, its contribution to local economies in the Caribbean is clearly significant. For instance, a 1999 study comparing stay-over, cruise, and yacht tourism in Antigua-Barbuda found that yachting contributed roughly 50 percent more to the local economy than cruise ships, even though 11 times more visitors arrived via cruise ships than yachts. Table 3.1 shows the length of visitor stays, expenditure per day, and total overall expenditure for the three groups in 1999. The biggest difference between cruise tourists and yacht tourists is not in their daily expenditure, but in their average length of stay: one day for the former versus nearly 11 days for the latter. As the report’s author states, “Despite the significantly larger investments made by governments in cruise tourism infrastructure and the higher profile of the cruise tourism sector, the contribution from yachting in visitor spending to Antigua’s economy was higher than cruise tourism.” He concludes that “already, the sector’s contribution compared to cruise tourism is commendable,” and that there is potential for further growth of the yacht sector.21
Table 3.1 Economic impacts of stay-over, cruise ship, and yachting visitors to Antigua-Barbuda in 199920
A 2013 study in Grenada similarly found that the marine and yachting sector “is a major contributor to the economy of Grenada.” “It is almost certain,” the report continues, “that it outstrips the international cruise segment, and it is quite possible that it is comparable with the resort tourism segment” (also see Case Study 3.2). The authors add that “the marine and yachting segment has been able to perform this well with only limited government investment and marketing and promotion.”22 While both studies demonstrate the economic importance of yachting, the Grenada study raises questions about how much one specific category, superyachts, actually contribute to the local economy. This study found that for superyachts, the most significant source of economic impact was expenditures related to provisioning, fuel, and berthing. Crews of superyachts also spent on onshore services such as restaurants and entertainment. However, other major categories of spending eluded Grenada: the costs of charters are paid outside Grenada, significant or technical repairs are performed by craftsmen and technicians flown in to Grenada by the owners, and passengers typically “engage in few, if any, on-shore activities.”23 Nevertheless, Grenada and other countries often put in special facilities to attract and accommodate superyachts, similar to what is done for cruise tourism. According to Willard Phillips, an economic affairs officer with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Trinidad, “While there is much excitement in the Caribbean about the benefits of superyachts to the regional economy, questions are increasingly being asked about this proposition.”24 Clearly, more detailed studies are needed in other Caribbean destinations to assess the real costs and benefits of superyachts.
Environmental Impacts of Marinas
Like airports, roads, and hotels, marinas can cause significant negative environmental impacts. Inappropriately designed, constructed, and operated marinas cause a range of negative effects, and some of these, such as loss of mangroves, can also reduce resilience to climate change. Properly done, however, marinas can improve degraded land and minimize environmental impacts on pristine coastal and nearshore areas. “Marinas carry a stigma among the general public of always causing negative impacts,” states marina designer and consultant Esteban Biondi.25 To the contrary, he explains, “Marinas can be sited, developed, and operated in a sustainable manner.” He highlights that degraded waterfronts, for instance, can benefit from the development of recreational and tourism boating infrastructure as part of a renovation and cleanup plan. Biondi concludes that best practices for planning and building marinas (and for coastal construction in general) involve design solutions that are resilient, seek positive (or at least neutral) environmental impacts, maximize social and economic benefits, and add economic value to the project (see Case Study 3.1).
Biondi says that proper engineering design of marinas and other coastal structures is fundamental to mitigating environmental impacts, including erosion, accretion, and severe damage during extreme events such as hurricanes.26 He believes that many projects cause unacceptable shoreline impacts because their design, construction, and operation have not followed good engineering design guidelines. Biondi believes that best practices in engineering studies, and sound design principles, should be seen as investments in a higher-value project. Positive outcomes are achieved when developers understand that basic studies are an investment to improve the design, as opposed to a cost to get a permit.
In addition to coastal engineering issues, he highlights that ecological features can be integrated into a marina design, adding aesthetic value and/or reducing construction costs—an approach known broadly as environmental design.27 He adds that the concept of structural resiliency, which is rather new in marina design, and specifically relates to climate change adaptation, is, at its core, traditional “good engineering design.” This involves assessing extreme events properly and designing structures and systems that can respond well when design conditions are exceeded.28
Biondi argues that while such practices can be very effective, they are often not followed by developers and regulatory agencies in the Caribbean. Although marina developers and operators in the Caribbean and Latin America are aware that these facilities are exposed to increasingly severe and unpredictable hurricanes and sea level rise, they do not typically include consideration of climate change or the need for adaptation in practice. Unfortunately, marina developers often do not undertake all recommended engineering studies, or follow their recommendations, even if those steps would likely result in reduced costs of construction, maintenance, and repairs after extreme weather events. Biondi makes the case that the integration of environmental design approaches in marina planning and design meets the sustainability criteria of international guidelines such as PIANC’s Working with Nature29 in a practical and effective manner.30
Social Impacts
Even less attention has typically been paid to the social impacts of marinas, or to how they might be used to help address local economic, social, and cultural needs. In fact, throughout the Caribbean region, marinas have become a flashpoint for conflicts between coastal residents, including fishing communities, and wealthy outsiders such as tourists. Promoters of marinas argue that they provide positive social impacts, including facilities for police and customs officials to check boats and their passengers, monitor illegal activity, and conduct safety inspections. Critics, meanwhile, argue that marinas tend to attract a less desirable international clientele and may serve as a gateway for drugs, prostitution, and other illegal and antisocial activities.31 These negative social impacts are difficult to verify and may well be based more on fear than reality. Two other social concerns are, however, more credible. One is limited job creation, and the other is displacement of local coastal and fishing communities.
Developers frequently inflate the number of local jobs marinas will bring during the construction and operations phases. The Tyrell Bay Marina on Carriacou in Grenada promised to bring 125 direct and 300 indirect new jobs to the island, for example. They estimated that when fully built, the marina and its range of facilities would generate a total of 150 to 200 direct and indirect jobs. But in early 2017, the owners admitted that during the multiyear construction stage, the project had only generated 20–40 jobs at any one time (see Case Study 3.3). In Costa Rica, Marina Pez Vela in Quepos pledged to provide training programs in conjunction with the National Learning Institute (INA) “so that locals can acquire the relevant skills” to work in the marina.32 However, the developer committed only a few thousand dollars for job training, and by late 2011, only “about 20 people work[ed] at the marina facility, most in sales and cleaning or security positions.” It was also not clear how many of these workers were local. Ever optimistic, however, the marina operators predicted that when the hotels, condos, and shopping center were completed, “an estimated 3,000 direct and indirect jobs would have been created.”33
As a marina designer and consultant, Esteban Biondi provides an innovative approach to social sustainability applied to marina design.34 He argues that authentic guest experiences add value to marinas, and that local residents are “the best suited to deliver authentic experiences.”35 From a business standpoint, he says, offering these experiences through interactions with local people can bring both added value and enhanced profitability of a marina project. Biondi argues that direct connections with local businesses and community members can have positive socio-economic impacts, such as reducing economic leakage and providing memorable guest experiences.36 He believes that developers can proactively implement the principles of sustainable tourism in the marina planning process, and thereby achieve economic success as well as social and environmental sustainability (see Case Study 3.1).
Marinas, Yachting, and Climate Change
According to Ivor Jackson, a Caribbean-based architect specializing in environmental land use and tourism planning, yachting destinations can become vulnerable to climate change if they have poorly designed and engineered infrastructure; poorly manage their boatyard services, including yacht storage on land; and lack well-managed hurricane shelters.37 Climate change is already heightening the susceptibility of marinas to environmental damage, while inadequate social policies and practices, and poor community relations, can make it more difficult for marinas to respond effectively to climate change impacts. Marinas, boatyards, and related infrastructure are vulnerable to high winds, high energy waves, and storm surges, all of which are increasing in the era of climate change. According to Jackson, the Caribbean’s most important yachting destinations and marinas have all suffered recent impacts from winds, waves, and storm surges (Table 3.2). He mentions several marinas and yacht basin bulkheads that are especially vulnerable to sea level rise and extreme effects of wave and storm surge, including Nelson’s Dockyard, Jolly Harbour, and Catmarina in Antigua, Rodney Bay in St. Lucia, and Chaguaramas in Trinidad.39
Table 3.2 Climate-related threats to important yachting destinations, from Puerto Rico to Trinidad38
(E = Excellent; G = Good; F = Fair)
Sea level rise caused by ocean warming has implications for the planning and environmental management of marinas. According to Jackson, careful planning is needed to “increase the useful life of marina infrastructure against the rise in sea level and to maintain structural integrity against storm waves and surge.” It is vital to set adequate heights for bulkheads and berthing piers, and provide adequate structural reinforcement for the foundations of pier piles and bulkhead footing.40 Sea level rise is also threatening coral reefs, which in some places, including the BVI, Antigua/Barbuda, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, offer protected yachting anchorages. As Jackson states, “Sea level rise can be expected to have adverse impacts on the protective function of coral reefs, except where reef growth is fast enough to maintain wave energy attenuating functions at existing levels.”41
At the same time, several factors are increasing the navigational difficulties for sailing and cruising among the Caribbean’s fragile coral reefs. Increased storms, numbers of boats, pollution, and runoff are all contributing to reduced visibility around coral reefs. In addition, sediment deposition associated with more frequent and intense storms is reducing channels and anchorages. One solution is to increase the depth of existing channels and ports, especially for large luxury yachts and tall ships (such as windjammer cruisers), which have deeper draughts than bareboat charters or twin hull catamarans. While incidents of yachts running aground on unmarked reefs have increased with the growth of bareboat charters,42 authorities have been reluctant, sometimes for financial reasons, to implement adequate buoyage (marker) systems.
According to Esteban Biondi, while predictions of sea level rise are available, the impacts of climate change-induced storms are less certain. More intense storms can generate higher offshore waves and increased storm surge height. Higher water levels due to sea level rise may allow storm waves to overtop breakwater structures. This is typically not a major issue for breakwaters in deeper areas, but it may be significant in shallower waters and mild slope shorelines.43 Biondi notes that traditional engineering design of marinas, done properly, has long incorporated structural resiliency as a goal. Such designs must now consider climate change impacts as well. Coastal structures should not fail abruptly when design conditions are exceeded. Additionally, marina design and construction should facilitate recovery after storms.44 Best practices such as these almost always come down to following and exceeding existing guidelines and regulations.
Certification under Blue Flag for Marinas
One way to ensure that marinas are sustainably designed, built, and operated is to follow voluntary certification programs. In the Americas, there are two leading marina certification programs, Clean Marinas and Blue Flag. Clean Marinas includes a “family” of programs that originated in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommendations, but which are run by individual states.45 One state program, the California Clean Marinas program, has expanded to Mexico.46 The program uses best management practices designed to protect waters from pollution, and allows marina operators, yacht clubs, and municipal port authorities to gain certification. In addition, Clean Marinas has recently developed guidelines for addressing resilience, which can be used by marinas in the Caribbean as part of a climate change adaptation strategy (see Case Study 3.1).
The second certification program is Blue Flag, which is designed for marinas, beaches, and boats. Blue Flag is probably the oldest and most widely recognized sustainable marine tourism certification program. Founded in France in 1985 by the nonprofit organization Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), by April 2016, Blue Flag had certified 676 marinas in 32 countries, and 3,494 beaches in 45 countries.47 By late 2016, there were nine Blue Flag-certified marinas in the Caribbean, including in The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Maarten, and Martinique. Blue Flag is administered by a national jury in each country that evaluates the marinas; these juries are overseen by FEE International. While the Blue Flag certification process does not include a third-party audit, certified marinas are subject to unannounced inspections by FEE. If the marina is not in compliance, Blue Flag certification can be suspended temporarily or withdrawn completely, depending on the severity of the infraction.
Blue Flag’s certification for marinas includes 25 criteria divided into four broad categories: 1) environmental education and information; 2) environmental management; 3) safety and services; and 4) water quality. Most criteria are “imperative,” meaning a marina must comply with them, while some are listed as “guidelines,” meaning they are preferable but not mandatory. Blue Flag’s criteria are designed to ensure compliance with national legislation on environmental impacts, including proper control and disposal of hazardous waste; use of recycling containers; bilge water pumping facilities that separate oily bilge water from other residues; and control of fluids from boat repair and washing areas. Marinas situated in or near marine protected areas (MPAs) must consult with MPA management to ensure “compatible ecosystem conservation and biodiversity goals.”48 However, this and some other criteria are broad and nonspecific.
In 2011, the IGY Isle de Sol in St. Maarten became the first marina in the Dutch Caribbean to be Blue Flag-certified. Its environmental good practices include careful separation of waste oil, black and grey water, and hazardous waste, and posting of Blue Flag rules to help ensure that boat owners comply.49 IGY is a marina owner and operator that presently operates eight marinas in the larger Caribbean basin: one each in Colombia, Panama, Turks & Caicos, and St. Lucia; two each in the Virgin Islands and St. Maarten; and several in the United States. It recently started its Community Outreach Project, known as “Inspire Giving through You,” to encourage yachters to get “off the boats and into the communities where we operate to support local charities and nonprofit organizations” (see Image 3.0.2). The program involves IGY marina staff, boat owners, captains, and crew, who become “the driving force behind participation by rolling up their sleeves and pitching in to help contribute at each of the chosen destinations.”50
Image 3.0.2 IGY Marinas successfully implemented their first annual “Inspire Giving through You” initiative on Saturday, February 20, 2016. The worldwide service project occurred simultaneously across six countries with over 300 volunteers from eight participating IGY Marina locations51
Because Blue Flag certifies existing marinas, rather than those in the planning or construction phases, it is limited in terms of addressing climate change through environmental design measures, such as careful siting to protect mangroves and coral reefs. It also does not address construction methods, such as ensuring that pier piles and bulkheads can withstand sea level rise, strong hurricanes, strong waves, and storm surges. Nevertheless, Blue Flag and other certification programs can help ensure that marinas are operated more sustainably, thereby reducing their impacts on the environment, limiting their contribution to future climate change, and increasing the resilience of local ecosystems and communities. In other words, they can play an important part in helping marinas become part of the solution to climate change threats, rather than part of the problem.
Yachting tourism is on the rise in the Caribbean and offers a range of possible economic contributions. Yet, like other forms of marine (and coastal) tourism, yachting and marinas have the potential to do harm to local and regional ecosystems and communities. Impacts of marinas include inappropriate development that destroys mangroves, coral reefs, and other fragile marine and coastal habitats; poorly run operations that contribute sewage, sediments, oily waste and other pollutants into coastal ecosystems; and generally unsustainable practices at onshore facilities, including intensive use of water and other limited resources. Recreational boats, for their part, can damage coral reefs and other habitats through accidental strikes and poor anchoring techniques; can contribute solid and liquid waste into coastal and offshore waters; and can disturb marine wildlife, among other impacts. Both yachts and marinas produce greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute to climate change, and bring additional tourists to already stressed marine and coastal locations. These problems are compounded by the ever-increasing size of many recreational boats, including superyachts and megayachts, which not only exacerbate all of the above impacts, but also require larger and deeper harborages and additional onshore facilities.
While the environmental and social impacts of marinas in the Caribbean and elsewhere can be significant, a growing number of planning and design tools are available to avoid, minimize, mitigate, and compensate for harmful impacts. Voluntary eco-certification programs such as Blue Flag and Clean Marinas, and the incorporation of environmental design principles into integrated planning and construction for marinas, can help reduce negative environmental and social impacts, including those related to climate change. Most promising are holistic programs that address design, siting, construction, and operations of marinas to protect the known and projected impacts of climate change, including increasingly severe and frequent hurricanes, sea level rise, and storm surges. Through the use of such practices, the Caribbean might just be able to sustainably accommodate the growing number and size of recreational boats in the region, as well as the increasing number of tourists who wish to experience the waters and coastlines of the region from deckside. It might also be possible to plan for a future in which the Caribbean remains one of the world’s premier yachting destinations, even as climate change and its many impacts bear down upon this part of the world.
Notes
1. Ivor Jackson. (2002). “Potential Impact of Climate Change on Tourism.” Issue paper [draft] prepared by Ivor Jackson & Associates for the OAS – Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) Project, 13. http://www.oas.org/macc/docs/tourismissues.doc
2. Andre Vincent Henry. (June 2013). “Improving the Business Climate for the Marine and Yachting Sector in Grenada,” 12. http://www.thegcic.org/2013/07/economic-impact-of-the-yachting-on-grenada-2013/
3. In contrast, islands in the south Caribbean, close to the South American continent, get very little rainfall and are considered to be outside of the Hurricane Belt. This includes Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Providencia Island, San Andrés, and Belize, as well as Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago.
4. Ivor Jackson. (2002). Op cit., 12-13.
5. Eliza Mackintosh and Kara Fox. (2017). “A week after Irma, Caribbean Devastation is Laid Bare.” CNN World, September 14, 2017; Chris Morris. (2017). “Puerto Rico’s Losses from Hurricane Maria May Top $72 Billion.” Fortune, September 26, 2017; Alphea Saunders. (2017). “Maria Could Cost Dominica Billions of Dollars, Says CDEMA.” Jamaica Observer, September 26, 2017. http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/13/americas/hurricane-irma-caribbean-one-week-on/index.html
6. Anonymous. (2017). “Hurricane Irma’s Impact on Caribbean’s Tourism Sector.” South Florida Caribbean News, September 14, 2017. https://sflcn.com/hurricane-irmas-impact-on-caribbeans-tourism-sector/
7. Since the 1930s, the term marina, which is Italian for a small craft harbor, has been used in the Americas to describe a recreational boating facility. Marinas are distinct from marine ports that handle commercial cargo or cruise ports that handle large pleasure vessels owned by handful of corporations. Today, the term marina, or sometimes leisure harbor, is widely used to describe a managed facility for privately owned recreational boats and/or boats used commercially for pleasure activities such as sailing, sport fishing, snorkeling, and scuba diving.
8. Nautical tourism is tourism that combines sailing and boating with vacation and holiday activities. It can be travelling from port to port in a cruise ship, or joining boat-centered events such as regattas or landing a small boat for lunch or other-day recreation at specially prepared dayboat landings. From Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautical_tourism
9. Richard Graves & Associates. (2012). “Marinas.” Unpublished PowerPoint. Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
10. Cathy Hawker. (September 23, 2013). “Demand Grows for Caribbean Marinas.” Vacation News, Latin American edition. www.worldpropertychannel.com/latin-america-vacation-news/caribbean-marinas-barbados-port-ferdinand-yachts-camper-and-nicholsons-international-unna-marina-projects-boating-altman-real-estate-7385.php
11. Cathy Hawker. (September 23, 2013). Op cit.
12. Richard Graves & Associates. (2012). Op cit.
13. Richard Graves & Associates. (2012a). “Marina Business Presentation.” Unpublished presentation. Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
14. Image Source: Port Ferdinand.
15. Richard Graves & Associates. (2012). Op cit.
16. Warsash Superyacht Academy. (2017). “What is a Superyacht?” http://www.warsashsuperyachtacademy.com/about/superyacht-industry/what-is-a-superyacht.aspx
17. Cathy Hawker. (September 23, 2013). Op cit.
18. Richard Graves & Associates. (2012). Op cit.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid. Note: Visitor data taken from the Ministry of Tourism and the Environment. Figures for average length of stay and average daily expenditure taken from Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. Calculations of US$ amounts added by author of this essay.
21. Ivor Jackson. (2002). Op cit., 12.
22. Andre Vincent Henry. (June 2013). Op cit., 7.
23. Ibid., 21–23.
24. Willard Phillips. (January 19, 2017). Email correspondence with Martha Honey.
25. Esteban L. Biondi. (February 2017). “A Sustainable Approach to Marina Development.” Caribbean Compass. http://www.caribbeancompass.com/sustainable_marinas.html
26. Esteban L. Biondi. Forthcoming. “Pautas y medidas de manejo para el diseño, construcción y operación de marinas.” In D. Zárate, E. González, H. Alafita, R. Barba, R. Margain, and J. Rojas (Eds.). La Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental: Guía para Proyectos Turísticos en Zonas Costeras. Semarnat, Mexico.
27. Esteban L. Biondi. (2015). “Environmental Management - Designing for the Environment,” in Marina World, May–June 2015.
28. Esteban L. Biondi. (2015). “Beach and Shoreline Protection.” Presentation at 4th Symposium for Innovators in Coastal Tourism, co-hosted by the Center for Responsible Travel and the Puntacana Ecological Foundation. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, July 22, 2015. http://www.innovators2015.com/presentations/Biondi_Coastal_w_text_22Jul15.pdf
29. PIANC. “Working with Nature.” http://www.pianc.org/workingwithnature.php
30. Esteban L. Biondi. (2017). “Marinas Working with Nature - Sustainable and Resilient Marina Design.” Presented at the International Marina and Boatyard Conference. Ft Lauderdale, January 2017.
31. Martha Honey and Erick Vargas. (2007). Personal interviews with residents along Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.
32. Maricarmen Esquivel. (2011). Coastal Development Decision-Making in Costa Rica: The Need for a New Framework to Balance Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts. Unpublished thesis, Master in City Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 136.
33. Kimberly Barron. (November 27, 2011). “New Quepos Costa Rica Marina Pez Vela Still Struggling to Catch a Wave.” Eye on Costa Rica blog. http://eyeoncostarica.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-quepos-costa-rica-marina-pez-vela.html
34. Esteban L. Biondi. (July 2014). “Sustainable Marinas: The Social Dimension of Sustainability.” Presented at the 3rd Symposium for Innovators in Coastal Tourism, co-hosted by CREST. Grenada, West Indies, July 9–11, 2014. http://www.responsibletravel.org/events/Workshop_9.html
35. Esteban L. Biondi and Albina L. Lara. (September 2015). “Sustainable Marinas – Institutional Framework of Sustainability.” Presented at PIANC SMART Rivers 2015. Buenos Aires, September 7–11, 2015. http://www.pianc.org.ar/_stage/pdf/papers_sr2015/68_paper_Biondi_USA_10.pdf
36. Esteban L. Biondi. (June 2014). “Planning Sustainable Marinas – The Social Dimension of Sustainability.” Presented at the PIANC World Congress 2014. San Francisco, June 1–5, 2014.
37. Ivor Jackson. (2002). “Potential Impact of Climate Change on Tourism.” Issue paper [draft] prepared by Ivor Jackson & Associates for the OAS – Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) Project, 13–14. http://www.oas.org/macc/docs/tourismissues.doc
38. Ibid., 13.
39. Ibid., 14.
40. Ibid., p. 17.
41. Ibid., p. 19.
42. A bareboat charter provides a boat only, exclusive of crew, supplies, fuel, and the like.
43. Esteban L. Biondi, Applied Technology & Management. Personal interview with Martha Honey.
44. Ibid.
45. Florida Clean Marina Program. http://www.dep.state.fl.us/cleanmarina/marina/default.htm
46. Clean Marinas (California). (2015). http://www.cleanmarina.org/thecleanabout.html
47. Blue Flag. (2016). “Blue Flag Sites.” http://www.blueflag.global/all-bf-sites/
48. Blue Flag. (April 2016). “Blue Flag Marina Criteria and Explanatory Notes.” 8. http://www.blaflagg.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Marina-Criteria-and-explanatory-notes.pdf
49. Island Global Yachting. (2015). “Isle de Sol Marina Rules.” IGY Isle de Sol. http://igy-isledesol.im.sonce.net/marina/ids-marina-rules; Island Global Yachting. (2015). “Services.” IGY Isle de Sol. http://igy-isledesol.im.sonce.net/services; Island Global Yachting. (2015). “St. Maarten Initiative.” IGY Marinas. http://www.igymarinas.com/igy-community-service/st.-maarten-initiative
50. IGY Marinas. “Inspire Giving Through You.” http://igymarinas.com/igy-community-service/
51. Image Source: IGY Marinas.
Planning Marinas for Uncertain Futures: Environmental Design and Social Sustainability
Introduction
In response to the threats posed by climate change to recreational boating, and with our current understanding of the impacts of marinas and yachting on the environment, one might assume that sustainability would be a key goal in the planning and design of marinas and other types of recreational navigation infrastructure. Despite extensive professional codes of practice, environmental regulations, design guidelines, and voluntary certification programs, however, too many new marina projects still cause avoidable negative impacts. This is unfortunate, because when environmental design principles and sustainability best practices are followed, most negative environmental impacts can be avoided, minimized, or managed. In some cases, such as when marina projects are developed in disturbed or impacted areas, they can actually produce positive environmental impacts. In addition, positive economic and social impacts created by marinas can actually mean a net positive impact of many marina projects. Finally, marinas can be planned and developed in ways that make them less susceptible to extreme weather events and other impacts of climate change, and can also be designed to minimize their contribution to climate change effects. This case study provides examples of how the concept of “environmental design” can be used to plan marinas that are more sustainable, resilient, and prepared for the types of impacts that climate change will bring to places such as the Caribbean.
Environmental Impacts of Marinas
Typical environmental impacts associated with traditional marina projects include:
- Ecosystem impacts, including loss of wetlands and other aquatic resources, such as coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, oyster beds, mudflats, coastal lagoons, salt ponds, and dune ecosystems;
- Shoreline impacts, such as interruption of sediment transport, increased erosion, and disruption of beach dynamic responses due to improperly designed coastal structures;
- Water quality impacts, such as increased concentrations of pollutants, sediment runoff, discharge of contaminants, and reduction of water exchange; and
- Changes in physical dynamics of coastal, lagoon, estuarine, delta, river, or lake systems, such as salinity changes, suspended sediments, or nutrient loading.
While the engineering knowledge to assess, avoid, mitigate, and compensate these impacts has been available for decades, some marina projects are still built without adequate assessment, proper design, or appropriate materials. The examples below illustrate some common problems and how they might be addressed through better marina planning and design.
Beach erosion, often caused by improperly designed coastal structures, can reduce the protection that natural beach and dune systems provide. For example, Cabo Riviera Marina in the Sea of Cortez (Mexico) has caused severe beach impacts. Erosion is most severe on the marina’s very valuable beachfront properties, showing how poor design can negatively impact the economic value of marina projects themselves. These impacts are clearly visible in images showing construction in progress (see Image 3.1.1).
Image 3.1.1 Cabo Riviera Marina and Resort, Phase 1, April 20111
Better design and construction practices can offer simple solutions to problems of erosion. While coastal rock structures or rubble mound breakwaters can cause negative impacts to natural sand transport along open beaches, for example, these same structures built in appropriate locations can create valuable marine habitats. For instance, man-made rock structures used for shoreline protection or marina breakwaters can perform as artificial reefs, creating valuable marine life habitat and even serving as tourism attractions (see Image 3.1.2).
Image 3.1.2 Fish abundance in man-made rock structure in Anguilla3
Marinas can also offer opportunities for positive environmental impacts when existing sites are polluted or degraded. For example, a lack of environmental management, along with inadequate boating facilities, have caused severe environmental degradation, negative guest experiences, and unsafe operations in the Caribbean island of San Andrés, Colombia. Marine tours in San Andrés operate from a series of dilapidated private facilities along a protected coast of the island, near the main downtown hotels (Image 3.1.3). A lack of investment and haphazard growth over many years have caused severe environmental degradation. A properly designed boating facility for this location could significantly upgrade conditions for operators and tourists, improve water quality, and restore some of the degraded marine habitat. The national tourism authority has identified this problem and is presently considering the development of a marina to clean up boating operations in this area.2
Image 3.1.3 Tour operation in San Andres, Colombia4
Environmental design is a tool proposed to expand best practices in marina design. It considers environmental features proactively as part of marina project design, not just as a tool to mitigate negative impacts.5 Environmental features become design elements that: (a) add value to a marina project, for example, through improved aesthetics or functionality; (b) reduce costs; and/or (c) provide ecological benefits such as habitat creation and protection of threatened vegetation or wildlife. This approach can be considered an advanced level of integrated marina design that leads to a more effective way of conducting environmental impact assessment as an instrument of sustainable development.
One of the most important aspects of environmental design is site selection. The analysis of marina development sites from an environmental point of view, especially when considering the future effects of climate change, should use the following criteria:6
- Give preference to properties with natural protection from waves, winds, and currents; that are naturally deep enough for the type of vessels targeted by the project; and that have existing navigable access to open waters to avoid or minimize the need for dredging.
- Give preference to development in areas that have already been impacted. For example, redevelopment of brownfield waterfront properties could result in a net positive environmental impact.
- Give preference to locations that have adequate upland areas to avoid the need to create developable land through filling or draining of wetlands.
- Give preference to locations that are farther away from and less connected to valuable ecological resources, and to locations that will induce less boat traffic through sensitive and valuable marine and coastal resource areas, such as coral reefs and seagrasses.
- Avoid coastal areas with high wave energy and/or strong littoral transport, because coastal structures in those conditions tend to cause more shoreline impacts (and can be more expensive).
- Give preference to locations that are less prone to catastrophic failures or major damage due to extreme events such as hurricanes.
- Avoid areas with significant and/or valuable vegetation cover, such as mangroves.
- Avoid, reduce, and mitigate potential conflicts over uses of water and land, including visual or acoustic impacts.
- Give preference to locations that are conducive to a good physical, functional, and economic integration of the marina with its surroundings.
Environmental design does not just mean reducing negative impacts. It can mean creating positive impacts through such things as using native landscaping materials, or incorporating local ecosystems into marina design. For example, a mangrove shoreline (either created or preserved) can have both ecological and aesthetic functions. Native vegetation can complement pedestrian overwater boardwalks and can provide spaces for recreation and environmental education (see Image 3.1.4). Combinations of structural and natural features can offer efficient solutions, such as creating mangrove or oyster habitats as part of shoreline stabilization structures. In other words, it is possible to design marinas that not only minimize disturbances to natural systems, but that actually help to create and support them. This is the best possible way to plan and build for the many uncertainties of climate change and its expected impacts.
Image 3.1.4 Jupiter Yacht Club in Jupiter, Florida, has natural mangrove vegetation adjacent to the marina7
A range of marina planning and development guidelines that incorporate environmental design principles are available, including those offered through coastal and marine engineering professionals, and various certification programs that offer environmental and resilience best practices. Two prominent examples, summarized below, are Working with Nature, and the Clean and Resilient Marina Initiative.
Working with Nature
Working with Nature (WwN) is an initiative promoted by The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure, which goes more commonly by the acronym PIANC. This international professional organization, founded in 1885, has long-established design principles that encourage early analysis of environmental issues. Working with Nature started with ports and navigation canals and was later expanded to include marinas.8 WwN guidelines for marinas include identifying fundamental project objectives and considering site conditions from the perspectives of both natural systems and technical design aspects. WwN incorporates environmental analysis in the design stage, so that a project takes steps to reduce its impact before the environmental impact study is carried out. This is an improvement over the traditional sequential approach typically used in large infrastructure projects, which consists of completing a project design and preliminary engineering first, and then conducting a formal environmental impact study. The best marina is one that avoids potential negative impacts caused by poor siting and design, and then further mitigates unavoidable impacts as part of the value of the project itself.
Clean and Resilient Marina Initiative
As noted above, marina developers in the Caribbean and elsewhere have not typically included in their planning adequate consideration of climate change and the need for adaptation. The Clean and Resilient Marina Initiative of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, however, has published a number of documents that offer practical recommendations to reduce damage and facilitate recovery after a major weather-related event. The Clean and Resilient Marina Guidebook, for instance, calls for the promotion and expansion of resilient and environmentally responsible operations and best management practices at marinas.9 The Initiative builds on the Clean Marina voluntary certification programs in the United States and provides additional recommendations to strengthen local marinas’ ability to withstand extreme events. The Initiative is important in raising general awareness; however, its content is not technical and practical enough to provide concrete measures for addressing specific climate change impacts.
Social Sustainability in Marina Design and Operations
Marinas can be built and developed in ways that improve the lives of the local communities where they are developed. However, typically very little attention is paid to social issues relative to marinas. For example, most developers overlook the value to tourists and resort residents of interacting with local fishing or farming communities. While no specific guidelines exist for addressing social sustainability as part of the marina planning and design process, many marina resort projects have included social sustainability practices in their operations.10 Integrating social sustainability in marina design and operation is important because: (a) the marina business is a hospitality business, (b) “authentic” guest experiences are high value, and (c) local community members are often best-suited to deliver authentic experiences. Authentic engagement with the local community from project design through operations does present challenges, and requires long-term commitment, resources, and some institutional capabilities. Nonetheless, developers who proactively incorporate principles of socially sustainable tourism in marinas recognize that it is good business.
As one example, Rodney Bay Marina in Saint Lucia has long been recognized as a major facility for sailboats; it has now been redeveloped to also include megayacht facilities. Through an innovative initiative, the marina partnered with the country’s Ministry of Agriculture to offer local farmers direct access to marina guests at The Farmer’s Market at Rodney Bay (see Image 3.1.5). This program was conceived by the marina’s general manager, Adam Foster, and marketing director Portia Mogal, who developed the vision, obtained support from the government and facility ownership, and implemented this innovative program. When the program started, it had about 20 vendors who traveled from some of the poorest parts of the island to sell their produce. The marina management encouraged its clients to purchase directly from the farmers, and encouraged residents around the facility to visit the marina for their weekly fruit and vegetable shopping. Other businesses inside the marina have also benefited from the increased foot traffic through the facility.11
Image 3.1.5 Farmer's market at Rodney Bay12
Another example is Puerto Los Cabos, a large coastal tourism resort and marina development project in San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The project, which includes a 500-slip marina, was developed around a small fishing village called La Playita. The marina includes a basin and fishing village (see Image 3.1.6) for use by local fishermen and operated by a local fishing cooperative.14 The facility represents a significant investment by the marina and resort in community-oriented infrastructure; it was initially built to very high standards, and was fully repaired by the developer after Hurricane Odile caused considerable damage in late 2014. The fishermen use their small boats, called pangas, both for commercial catch and for sport fishing charters operated by the local cooperative. These charters have been very successful, with visiting sport fishermen reporting high levels of satisfaction. While some community activities take place in the fishermen’s wharf landing facility and adjacent plaza built by the developer, the Puerto Los Cabos fishermen village has not yet reached its full potential of offering authentic experiences to all resort and marina guests, and thereby benefiting more broadly the local community.
Image 3.1.6 Marina at Puerto Los Cabos, Mexico includes an area dedicated exclusively to local fishermen13
In late 2016, the resort’s Hotel El Ganzo, the region’s only art hotel, launched an art center and permaculture garden on empty land across from the hotel. The project offers local school children free art classes taught by artists staying at El Ganzo, as well as organic gardening lessons aimed at helping to tackle childhood obesity (see Image 3.1.7). “In Mexico, we have an enormous problem with overweight children,” explained Ella Messerli, El Ganzo’s general manager. “It is of crucial importance that children recover gardening practices,” Messerli added. “This project has the potential of setting an example of what can be achieved when the body, mind, and spirit are nurtured.”16 This is yet another example of how marinas and their associated facilities, such as hotels and resorts, can contribute to the social sustainability and resilience of nearby communities.
Image 3.1.7 Staff and children take part in the opening ceremony of the Art Center and Permaculture Garden15
Marina planning has not typically included adequate consideration of their environmental or social impacts, or how they could contribute to protecting and even improving local ecosystems and communities. Additionally, current marina developments in the Caribbean do not typically include consideration of how their activities will contribute to climate change, or how to plan for the more severe and frequent impacts that climate change will likely bring. Best practices for marina development, however, include finding design solutions that are resilient, achieve positive or neutral environmental impacts, maximize social and economic benefits, and add economic value to the project being planned. The concept of environmental design offers one approach to achieving this goal.
While specific solutions proposed following the principles of environmental design might be similar to other processes, they differ radically in their motivation. Solutions are proposed upfront, proactively, as part of the development plan, rather than after the plan is already designed and possibly constructed. They also can add value or reduce costs to a project, as well as reducing environmental impacts. They are often not just technological solutions, and might not conform to usual design and construction practices. Environmental design involves a change in the attitudes and objectives of developers and their technical and design teams, resulting in modification of the design process and outcomes to be more sustainable, resilient, and economically viable.
Social sustainability best practices, meanwhile, incorporate the needs of local communities into design and operation plans. This can include creating new facilities that can be used by local residents to increase income opportunities, such as the Farmer’s Market at Rodney Bay and the fishing village at Puerto Los Cabos, both described earlier. In addition to their local economic benefits, such facilities can create opportunities for increased cultural and social interactions between marina users and local residents. Marina facilities can also be used to host activities that benefit local residents in creative ways, such as the art center and permaculture garden created by the Hotel El Ganzo, also described earlier. These examples are but a few of the ways in which marinas can be planned, designed, built, and operated to not only do the least harm, but to actually bring significant benefits to local communities.
Marinas have a perhaps well-deserved reputation of bringing unwanted environmental and social impacts to areas while generating little in the way of local economic development and other benefits. However, with a more proactive approach to planning and design, there is no reason this has to be the case in the future.
Notes
1. Image Source: CREST. (March 2012). “Alternative Development Models and Good Practices for Sustainable Coastal Tourism: A Framework for Decision Makers in Mexico.” Washington, DC: Center for Responsible Travel, 83. http://www.responsibletravel.org/resources/documents/reports/Alternative%20Coastal%20Tourism%20in%20Mexico.pdf. Photo use authorized by the Center for Responsible Travel and used with permission in publication cited
2. Minomercio Industria y Turismo. (September 15, 2016). “Inversiones por $23.000 Millones para Nueva Marina de San Andrés.” http://www.mincit.gov.co/publicaciones.php?id=37111&dPrint=1
3. Image Source: Bill Fay.
4. Image Source: Esteban L. Biondi. (2014).
5. Esteban L. Biondi. (2015). “Environmental Management - Designing for the Environment.” Marina World, May–June 2015.
6. Esteban L. Biondi. (Forthcoming) “Pautas y Medidas de Manejo para el Diseño, Construcción y Operación de Marinas.” In D. Zárate, E. González, H. Alafita, R. Barba, R. Margain, and J. Rojas, eds. La Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental: Guía para Proyectos Turísticos en Zonas Costeras. Mexico: Semarnat.
7. Image Source: Esteban L. Biondi.
8. The author, as a member of PIANC marina group and of the WwN project jury, prepared some guidelines on how to efficiently apply the WwN principles to marinas. Esteban L. Biondi. (September 7, 2015). “Proposal for Marinas Working with Nature.” White Paper. Proposal to PIANC Recreational Navigation Commission. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
9. Gulf of Mexico Alliance. (2013). Clean and Resilient Marina Initiative. Includes Guidebook Volumes I and II plus other documents. http://www.gulfofmexicoalliance.org/2013/05/gomas-clean-resilient-marina-initiative/
10. Esteban L. Biondi. (June 2014). “Planning Sustainable Marinas – The Social Dimension of Sustainability.” Presented at the PIANC World Congress 2014. San Francisco, June 1–5, 2014. http://www.pianc.org.ar/_stage/pdf/papers_sr2015/68_paper_Biondi_USA_10.pdf
11. Esteban L. Biondi and Albina L. Lara. (September 2015). “Sustainable Marinas – Institutional Framework of Sustainability.” Presented at PIANC SMART Rivers 2015. Buenos Aires, September 7–11, 2015. http://www.pianc.org.ar/_stage/pdf/papers_sr2015/68_paper_Biondi_USA_10.pdf
12. Image Source: Adam Foster.
13. Image Source: Esteban Biondi. (2013).
14. Esteban Biondi. (June 2014). Op cit.
15. Image Source: Hotel El Ganzo.
16. Ella Messerli, General Manager, Hotel El Ganzo. (December 8, 2016). Personal interview with Martha Honey.
The Future of Grenada’s Yachting Sector: Addressing the Climate Change Challenge
Introduction
Yachting in Grenada began in the 1960s with the advent of the first charter boats and the development of cruising on yachts as a lifestyle. By the late 1960s, Grenada rivalled Antigua and Barbuda in terms of its popularity as a boating destination. Grenada’s location at the southern end of the Grenadines, and its own coastal beauty, were important factors in stimulating that growth. During the 1970s and 1980s, there was considerable development of the yachting sector in other Caribbean destinations as well. The British Virgin Islands became a major yacht tourism destination, particularly for charter customers. Antigua and St. Martin became the islands of choice for large luxury charter yachts, and eventually, superyachts, while Trinidad and Tobago became a major service destination for smaller yachts. Unfortunately, Grenada’s yachting industry stagnated and actually contracted in the late 1970s and early 1980s, in part due to the country’s political upheavals.
In recent decades, hurricanes Lenny in 1999, Ivan in 2004, and Emily in 2005 wrought tremendous damage on Grenada and caused the marine services industry to suffer serious setbacks. Most devastating was Hurricane Ivan, which caused EC$2.4 billion (US$890 million) in damage, or twice the country’s GDP at that time. Roughly half of the 800 or so yachts in Grenada were damaged by the storm, including 15 sunk and 50 stranded on land (see Image 3.2.1). Three yachting facilities closed after the hurricane, and others considered moving to safer locations.1 But over the last decade, yachting has managed to bounce back remarkably well, helped, in part, by investments from internationally recognized brands.
Image 3.2.1 2004 Hurricane Ivan’s devastation to Spice Island Marines Services’ yard, Grenada2
Today, interest in Grenada as a tourism destination has returned, and the country once again benefits from a thriving yachting and marine services sector. The formation of the Marine and Yachting Association of Grenada (MAYAG) in 1999, and the passing of the Grenada Yachting Act, 2000, which recognized the sector’s value to the economy and provided some financial incentives, were instrumental in creating an effective public-private partnership that has spurred investment and growth in the yachting industry. This, in turn, has stimulated investment in larger boatyard facilities, marinas, and specialized yacht service businesses. Table 3.3 shows the growth in yacht and visitor numbers in Grenada from 2009 to 2015.
Table 3.3 Numbers of yachts and yachting visitors to Grenada3
Despite the three exceptionally fierce hurricanes mentioned above, and a few tropical storms since, the insurance industry still classifies Grenada as “below the hurricane belt.” This means that insurance companies provide year-round coverage to yacht owners based in Grenada. Grenada is exploiting this competitive advantage by offering its boatyards and marinas for storage during hurricane season (Table 3.4). Indeed, during 2014–2016, a major investment in boatyard4 and marina5 expansion increased capacity by about 40 percent.
Yachting’s contribution to the national economy is hard to calculate precisely, because the Grenada government tracks only two categories, stay-over visitors and cruise passengers. Yachters are included with stay-over visitors. Nevertheless, a 2013 study that interviewed many businesses and reviewed existing government data concluded that the marine and yachting segment “is a major contributor to the economy of Grenada,” almost certainly “outstrips the international cruise segment,” and “is comparable with the resort tourism segment.”6 Table 3.5 provides a breakdown of the economic impacts of yachting and marine tourism in Grenada. Yachting contributed over US$48 million and 912 direct and indirect jobs (including 750 direct) in 2012, compared with cruise tourism, which contributed US$15.2 million and 434 direct and indirect jobs (270 direct) for the 2011–2012 cruise season.9 In analyzing four different segments of yachting, the study found that in terms of economic impact, the most profitable is long-term stays. In particular, the sub-segment of long-term stays that appears to have the greatest potential is second homes, where boat owners base and store their yachts in Grenada.10
Table 3.4 Boatyard and marina capacity by numbers of vessels, 20167
Table 3.5 Summary of economic impact assessment of marine and yachting sector in Grenada, 20128 (Calculated in East Caribbean dollars/EC$. Exchange rate was EC$1.00 = US$0.37 in 2012)
In addition, the study looked at the yachting sector’s economic leakage (or loss from the local economy) in four categories: repairs and maintenance, provisioning, dining and accommodation, and fuel. It found that leakage is relatively low, just over US$7 million, or about 13 percent. In contrast, in the Caribbean as a whole, leakage from the tourism and travel industry ranges from a low of 50 percent to a high of 90 percent.11 Finally, the study concluded that “Grenada’s yacht tourism sector is better placed than any other country in the Caribbean to take advantage of the two major lines of business in the sector—cruising and services.” It added that there are opportunities for Grenada to “take advantage of its position at the southern end of the best cruising grounds in the Caribbean” and to “significantly expand its share” of the yacht tourism market. The study concluded that while to date, much of the sector’s growth “has been spontaneous,” at a strategic level, the government should promote “policies for business retention and business expansion of this sector.”12 In fact, given the yachting sector’s economic benefits, the Grenada government is deliberately targeting it for growth. A new National Export Strategy is currently being designed, with “marine services and yachting” as one of the priority areas.13
Reducing Yachting’s Contribution to Climate Change
While the marine and yachting sector is a significant contributor to Grenada’s economy, its climate footprint is relatively small. Compared with air transport, which accounts for about 5 percent of global GHG emissions14 and 2 percent of global CO2 emissions,15 the impact of sailing yachts on climate change is very much less—only 0.0095 percent of global CO2 emissions are caused by yachts.16 Even though some yachters do use air transport at the beginning and/or end of their visits, the length of their stay in Grenada, several months in many cases, reduces the ratio of economic impact (money spent in country) to GHG emissions.
While low, however, the carbon footprint from yachts and marinas does need to be addressed. As one report states, “Good seamanship and good economics underline the need to operate a yacht efficiently, and measures that lower fuel consumption can serve to reduce your carbon emissions at source.” Much of the emphasis in the yachting community, however, has gone into reducing emissions of noxious and sooty fumes, such as sulfur oxides, rather than reducing CO2 and other GHG emissions. Superyachts are, of course, big consumers of fossil fuels. Only about 50 superyachts visit Grenada each year, compared with over 4,000 of other types of pleasure crafts. The impact of individual boats is mostly en route, based on the distance traveled to reach Grenada, rather than during their short stays at anchor or in a marina.
For yachts that remain berthed in Grenada for any length of time, their carbon footprint is mainly from electricity use. Grenada’s yachts and marinas, like its entire tourism sector, is a heavy consumer of electricity, most of which is generated from fossil fuels by Grenlec, a private utility company owned by a U.S. firm. For the yachting sector, electricity consumption varies throughout the year, with January being the heaviest month. In Grenada’s largest marina, Port Louis, monthly consumption peaks at about 230 kWh (kilowatt-hours) in January and drops to 75 kWh in May. Because of Grenlec’s monopoly, the installation of renewable energy in Grenada has been slow. Until recently, domestic solar and wind systems accounted for about 1 MW (megawatts) of generation, while Grenlec’s solar photovoltaic (PV) projects added a further 1.12 MW in mid-2016. Together, this represents only about 7.5 percent of Grenada’s peak demand. Grenlec’s goal is to generate 20 percent of demand using renewable sources by 2020.17 These renewable energy measures are making modest reductions to the carbon footprint of Grenada’s tourism industry, including the yachting sector, and this will continue to improve over the coming years.
While a few marinas in Grenada have installed solar PV systems, restrictions from Grenlec on interconnection between such systems and the grid have discouraged wider adoption of onsite renewable energy generation. Where achieved, however, the benefits have been worthwhile. For example, Le Phare Bleu, which is a boutique resort and marina, has installed a system with the capacity to satisfy all its energy requirements during daylight hours (an average of 10,000 kWh per month). This has halved their GHG emissions. Like an increasing number of marine service sites, this property has also fitted LED lights throughout and installed energy efficient air conditioning units and restaurant coolers.18
Impact of Climate Change on Grenada’s Yachting Sector
As mentioned earlier, unusually fierce hurricanes over the past decade caused considerable damage to marinas and yachts in Grenada. In 2004, for instance, Hurricane Ivan damaged half the yachting fleet and forced some marinas to close. Other impacts related to climate change are also beginning to affect the yachting sector, although their long-term ramifications are less clear. Loss of coral reef through bleaching and ocean acidification has been minimal so far, but physical damage to beaches from Hurricane Lenny in 1999, and to a lesser extent, Hurricane Ivan in 2004, is still evident. This reduces the coastal zones’ utility for marine activities and resilience to future storm events. The severity and frequency of storms in the North Atlantic is predicted to increase, producing regular extreme long frequency swells with hurricane force impacts. The Grenada Government and UNESCO produced a useful report, Wise Practices for Coping with Beach Erosion, which calls for new developments (including marinas and boatyards) to be set “a ‘safe’ distance landward of the vegetation line,” to stabilize sand by conserving and restoring beach cover, and to stop mining of sand and dunes as construction materials.19
According to a study by CARIBSAVE, a one-meter rise in sea level will destroy over 70 percent of Grenada’s coastal tourism properties.20 While there are skeptical views that counter even modest scientific predictions, the impact of climate change may well be not only severe, but will arrive much sooner than some believe. The increasing severity and frequency of storms in the North Atlantic could mean that the sort of impacts Hurricanes Lenny and Ivan produced will become more common. Marine tourism installations and essential national infrastructure could be threatened. For coastal tourism properties, including boatyards and marinas, the impacts of storm surges, as well as sea level rise, will eventually be terminal. Yachting and marine service installations are all vulnerable to sea level rise, sea surges, and major rain events. Each yard and marina needs to conduct its own risk assessment to determine the appropriate mitigation and adaptation steps required for business survival. A development plan that recognizes which steps would be under their control, and which would require the involvement of government and other stakeholders, should then be drawn up. Bearing in mind the degree of uncertainty, a scenario planning approach is advisable.
Conclusion: Ensuring that Grenadian Yachting Survives Climate Change
The first step for all marine tourism businesses is to educate themselves about climate change, both its impacts and likely timing. Grenadians have already made strides in this regard, through events such as the GIZ-sponsored Climate Change and Coastal Tourism educational workshops given by CREST in 2015. These workshops trained government officials, tourism business owners, and local residents on the impacts of climate change on the tourism industry, and how the industry can either contribute to the problem or help to solve it. Those trained with the information were then able to share it within their communities.21 Recognizing the vital contribution that yachting and marine services make to its national economy, Grenada should assist with furthering the educational process and provide strategic leadership.
As traveler awareness increases about climate change, the quality of Grenada’s environmental profile will become increasingly important to holiday purchasers. The island’s Pure Grenada22 brand will develop increasing commercial value in a highly competitive market. This must be accompanied, however, by concrete climate mitigation steps. Opportunities exist, for instance, to further reduce the carbon footprint of the yachting sector. The Yacht Carbon Offset program works with yacht owners to quantify GHG emissions from a vessel’s engines, generators, tenders, water-toys, and even helicopters.23 As the program’s website explains, “Carbon Offsetting represents a pro-active response to your yacht’s CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions and is both straightforward and pragmatic. The principle is to ensure that for each tonne of CO2 emitted by your yacht's engines, a tonne of CO2e emissions have been saved elsewhere, through independently approved renewable power, methane recovery, and other projects.”24 Further opportunity exists for the development of local offsets in terms of forest, coral, and mangrove replanting and restoration, so that yacht owners can contribute to offset programs that provide a direct return to Grenada.
In addition, programs such as Blue Flag (see Essay 3.1) certify marinas and boats (as well as beaches) for environmental sustainability, including reducing GHG emissions through fossil fuel reduction and use of renewable energy. Grenada’s marina and yacht owners should join such initiatives, because they not only contribute to GHG reduction, but also reflect well on the country’s environmental credentials. As the climate crisis accelerates, the frequency of big disasters will increase. The political and business communities in Grenada need to recognize this and prepare accordingly. In addition, the international support and assistance that has been enjoyed by distressed small island states in the past will not necessarily be available in the future. Indeed, Grenada has already experienced this phenomenon: support commitments made after Hurricane Ivan dwindled away when the international community shifted aid to the victims of the Asian tsunami just three months later. Self-reliance will be essential, with the emphasis on homegrown solutions to Grenada’s national problems.
Notes
1. Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. (September 7, 2004). “Grenada: Macro-Socio-Economic Assessment of the Damages Caused by Hurricane Ivan.” http://www.gov.gd/egov/docs/reports/Ivan-Report-07-09-04.pdf
2. Image Source: Nick Bruce.
3. Table Source: Grenada Tourism Authority Compendium of Annual Statistics. Used with permission from Robin Swaisland.
4. A boatyard is a landside facility that is used to store and arrange parts that have been taken off boats so they can be worked on. It is for the repair and maintenance of the boats and yachts.
5. A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
6. Andre Vincent Henry. (June 2013). “Improving the Business Climate for the Marine and Yachting Sector in Grenada.” The Marine and Yachting Sector in Grenada. Economic Impact Assessment – Final Report, 7. http://grenadaidc.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=RXkaiLkLGAg%3D&tabid=110
7. Table Source: Marine & Yachting Association of Grenada. (June 2016). Used with permission from Robin Swaisland.
8. Table Source: Adapted from: Andre Vincent Henry. (2013).
9. Business Research & Economic Advisors (BREA). (September 2012). Economic Contribution of Cruise Tourism to the Destination Economies. A Survey Based Analysis of the Impacts of Passenger, Crew and Cruise Line Spending. Volume 1, Aggregate Analysis. http://www.f-cca.com/downloads/2012-Cruise-Analysis-vol-1.pdf
10. Andre Vincent Henry. (June 2013), 8.
11. Ibid., 53–55.
12. Ibid., 8.
13. Linda Straker. (April 27, 2016). “New Export Strategy Being Developed.” Now Grenada. http://www.nowgrenada.com/2016/04/new-export-strategy-developed/
14. Davide Ross. (May 6, 2009). GHG Emissions Resulting from Aircraft Travel. Carbon Planet. v9.2. http://studylib.net/doc/18714451/ghg-emissions-resulting-from-aircraft-travel
15. Air Transport Action Group. (2016). “Facts & Figures.” http://www.atag.org/facts-and-figures.html
16. International Maritime Organization (IMO). (2015). Third IMO Green House Gas Study 2014. Executive Summary and Final Report. London, 44. http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/PollutionPrevention/AirPollution/Documents/Third%20Greenhouse%20Gas%20Study/GHG3%20Executive%20Summary%20and%20Report.pdf
17. Grenlec. (May 20, 2016). “Grenlec’s Largest Solar Project.” http://www.grenlec.com/Blog/TabId/126/ArtMID/657/ArticleID/105/Grenlecs-Largest-Solar-Project.aspx
18. This is a Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association project funded by the CARICOM Development Fund.
19. National Science and Technology Council Grenada, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Land and Fisheries Grenada, University of Puerto Rico, Caribbean Development Bank and UNESCO. Wise Practices for Coping with Beach Erosion. UNESCO, Caribbean Development Bank, and Government of Grenada. http://www.unesco.org/csi/act/cosalc/grenb.pdf
20. M. Simpson, J.F. Clarke, D.J. Scott, M. New, A. Karmalkar, O.J. Day, M. Taylor, S. Gossling, M. Wilson, D. Chadee, H. Stager, R. Waithe, A. Stewart, J. Georges, N. Hutchinson, N. Fields, R. Sim, M. Rutty, L. Matthews, and S. Charles. (2012). The CARIBSAVE Climate Change Risk Atlas (CCCRA). UKaid Department for International Development (DFID), Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and CARIBSAVE Partnership. Barbados, West Indies.
21. For more information on this project and fact sheets about climate change and coastal tourism in the Grenada, visit http://responsibletravel.org/whatWeDo/cruiseAndCoastalTourism.php
22. Pure Grenada. http://grenadagrenadines.com/
23. Yacht Carbon Offset. http://www.yachtcarbonoffset.com/index.html
24. Yacht Carbon Offset. “Why Offset?” http://www.yachtcarbonoffset.com/why-offset.html
Tyrell Bay Marina, Carriacou, Grenada
Introduction
Carriacou, one of three islands that comprise Grenada, is a tranquil tourism byway in a string of Eastern Caribbean islands known as the Grenadines. But for more than a decade, a debate has simmered here over a new 160-berth marina, with haul-out storage for 200 or more vessels, that is being built in the northeast corner of Tyrell Bay’s delicate ecosystem. The controversy over the new Tyrell Bay Marina has pitted environmental protection against job creation and economic development, local public opinion against high-level political connections, and wealthy foreign yachters against local fishing communities. The controversy has also been fueled, in part, by misinformation stoked by a lack of clear, transparent government regulations, company plans, and community outreach. As a result, while the project is pitched as bringing badly needed economic benefits to the island, on the eve of its promised opening in 2017 there was still considerable distrust and suspicion among residents of Carriacou, and opposition from national and international environmental groups.1 Also unresolved, even in the final stages of construction, is how this new marina will cope with the realities of climate change—most importantly, sea level rise and increasingly strong and unpredictable storms.
The Development of Tyrell Bay
Carriacou, a 13-square-mile island with a population of about 6,500 permanent residents, has no full-scale marina. Tyrell Bay’s natural cove, however, has long offered yachters safe haven from high sea swells, Atlantic storms, and hurricanes. Tyrell Bay’s calm, protected waters have also accommodated passenger and cargo ships at times of the year when the swells at the main jetty in Hillsborough, the island’s principle town, are too large and rough for safe docking. The government is, therefore, planning to relocate its passenger and cargo ports to Tyrell Bay, next to the new marina. This will likely shift the hub of Carriacou’s economic life from Hillsborough to Tyrell Bay, which is an issue of concern to Hillsborough's merchants and a number of tourism businesses.
The parent company of the new Tyrell Bay Marina is the Carriacou Development Corporation (CDC), whose two principals are Jerome McQuilkin, a Carriacou businessman with shipping experience, and his partner John (Johnny) Walker, an engineer and businessman from Trinidad. They have promised that the new marina, expected to cost US$25 to $30 million, will generate jobs and tourism investment and turn Carriacou into a year-round yachting destination. Studies in the region have shown that yachters spend far more than cruise passengers while onshore, and bring various economic benefits to Caribbean islands (see Essay 3.1).
Environmental Impacts of the Marina Project, and Government Response
Tyrell Bay has a small-scale boatyard with capacity for 25 yachts, and basic amenities including fuel, mini-marina, a do-it-yourself labor yard, and a haul out area with a washdown catchment, ensuring that no toxic paints go back into the sea. Described in a sailors’ guide as “one of the more environmentally friendly” boatyards in the region, the Tyrell Bay Yacht Haul Out is, however, inadequate to meet the increasing number of yachts visiting the island.2 While it is widely recognized that Carriacou needs a proper marina, the Tyrell Bay project has been wrought with controversy over its environmental impacts. As described in the project’s 2002 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the new marina is to include facilities for yacht repair and storage, piers and jetties “constructed on concrete piles driven into the seabed,” a customs and immigration office, shops, a restaurant, and its own desalinization plant and sewage treatment plant, ensuring it will “have no impact on local utilities.”3 The EIA gave the marina project a green light, concluding, “A full service marina will bring great economic benefits to the island of Carriacou with the potential to double the tourist receipts, fill existing hotel rooms and justify expansion of hotel capacity.” Dredging for the marina began in 2003.
Local and international environmental concern has focused on the project’s destruction of mangroves and “mangrove oyster beds” where the shellfish grow on tree roots. The mangroves are ecologically important as breeding grounds and nursery habitat for marine organisms, including economically important species such as snapper, lobster, and conch. They also act as critical buffers against storms, increasing the resilience of the area against the effects of climate change. Environmental and community activists argue that the Tyrell Bay Marina project has already caused a serious decline in the oyster beds found in the mangroves, and that this indicates water quality has also declined. As the original 2002 EIA report explained, while “the oysters are not harvested for any substantial commercial benefit and historically do not represent any essential part of [the] local diet,” they “are considered an accurate indication of water quality [and] therefore particular attention must be given to eliminate or minimize any possible negative impacts this project may have on the area.”4 In 2010, a government-appointed expert mission recommended that there should be no further expansion of the marina because of its “negative impact on the Oyster Bed.”5
Amid growing public concerns about environmental impacts, in 2008, the Grenada government, led by the liberal center-left National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, rejected the CDC’s request for an additional seven acres of land, and then halted the project completely. In September 2009, the NDC government created and declared the Sandy Island Oyster Bed Marine Protected Area (SIOBMPA) (see Image 3.3.1).6 The protected area is located on the southwestern tip of Carriacou and encompasses a string of small islands and the Tyrell Bay mangrove system, which includes a significant amount of the area earmarked for the marina project.
Image 3.3.1 Sandy Island, Carriacou7
New Government and a Project Restart
A new government, headed by the conservative center-right New National Party (NNP), assumed office in early 2013. To the dismay of marina opponents, incoming Prime Minister Keith Mitchell announced that, despite the impact on the oyster beds and the new MPA, the project could move forward and even expand its size. The CDC quickly resumed dredging and land reclamation. In addition to giving the green light to resume construction, the government’s Grenada Investment Development Corporation (GIDC) granted the CDC significant duty-free concessions on imported supplies and materials for constructing the marina. The marina’s new stores and workshops servicing yachts will also be allowed to sell duty-free goods to yachters. Similar benefits have been given to other marinas in Grenada, according to project developers.8
At the June 2013 relaunch ceremony, the marina developers and their government supporters announced that when fully operational, the marina is expected to provide 125 direct jobs and 300 indirect jobs.9 More recently, CDC owners have tempered these projections, saying that during the construction stage, they have generated between 20 and 40 jobs at a time, with 90 percent going to locals. They also project that when fully built, the marina will support 150 to 200 direct and indirect jobs, most of which will go to locals. Information from local observers and the author’s site visits, however, found that as of mid-2014, only four local residents had been employed in construction, three as machine operators and one as a night watchman.10 By mid-2016, there were 10 workers, eight locals and two from Trinidad, while in early January 2017, there were reportedly 15 workers, including 10 from Carriacou. With unemployment on the island running over 40 percent, many in Carriacou worry that the CDC’s projections are too high, and that the best jobs are likely to go to foreigners because they require skills and training not available in Carriacou.
Project Update and Ongoing Concerns
Despite local, national, and international opposition, marina construction has continued in recent years, and has even accelerated. By early 2017, the marina had begun a modest soft opening of its dry dock and boat repair facilities, with, developers said, an official opening of the wet slip facilities planned for March or April of 2017. The auxiliary shops and workshops, a chandlery selling nautical supplies, restaurants, bars, and other buildings are slated, the company says, to be completed in the near future. Despite the evident frenzy of activities, however, locals remain skeptical that the project will really see the light of day. As one Carriacou tour operator commented as he perused the construction site in early January 2017, “This year marks the fifteenth year of this marina project. God knows when it will be finished.” Other local residents, however, have come to support the endeavor. As resident Kit Stonewalling wrote in July 2014, “The Tyrell Bay Marina, sisters and brothers, is a home grown project. . . . With oversight, proper management and a firm commitment from Carriacou Development Corporation to international monitoring and mitigation standards, the marina and mangroves can coexist, boosting the sagging [local] economy. . . . [Carriacou] has the unique opportunity to showcase to the region, and indeed to the developing world, that harmony between vibrant economic development and environment[al] sustainability is attainable—let’s go forward confidently.”11
Environmental concerns, including over destruction of the mangroves, have nonetheless continued. A July 2013 petition from the Mangrove Oyster Bed Protection Community (MOB-PC) contended that the “Marina Project has not only affected the Mangroves and Oyster Bed but has contributed to the drastic depletion of fishes, lambi, lobster, etc. within the Tyrell Bay ecosystem.”12 In February 2014, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) added its voice to growing international concern about the project. In a letter to the Government of Grenada, the UNDP warned that “the 2013 expansion approval of the Tyrell Bay marina project . . . could destroy acres of mangrove forest and coral reefs within the SIOBMPA.” It added, “Safeguarding this area ensures the health of vital marine and coastal ecosystems. Grenada’s tourism-based economy is dependent on its vibrant and rare coral reefs and mangroves.”13
By mid-2014, critics of the project estimated that nearly 10 acres of mangroves had already been cut, half of them within the MPA. More swaths of mangrove were reportedly cut in the following years. The CDC’s McQuilkin disputes these figures. He says that 70 percent of the marina’s 14 acres has been reclaimed through landfill—dredging the bay to make it deeper to accommodate all sizes of yachts and using the dredged material to build out the land. He concedes that “some mangroves were lost around the fringes of our land, but we’re required to replant five mangrove seedlings for every tree we cut.” He says the CDC is still waiting for the government to tell them where they should plant the new mangroves. He contends that at present, the remaining Tyrell Bay’s mangrove forest “is extremely healthy,” based on periodic water samples they have collected and sent to the United States for analysis. “In many areas the water quality has improved. It’s deeper and this has helped clear the way for more fish than before.”14
McQuilkin further states that the marina construction and operations are based on exemplary environmental practices—“the Rolls Royce for marina standards”—as prescribed in an internationally recognized marina certification program. While he could not remember the name of the certification program, he ticked off a list of environmental measures he says the marina is taking. These include installing a wastewater treatment plant to convert sewage to gray water and prevent the marina and yachts it docks and services from dumping directly into the ocean; use of recycled gray water for lawns and gardens; preventing water contaminated with anti-fouling paints from running into the ocean; safe handling of oil waste; and plans to use alternative energy, principally solar, for creating potable water and “wherever possible.” In addition, the CDC is planning to build a new elevated dock outside the mangroves, which will allow water to flow freely beneath into the remaining mangroves and oyster beds. For his part, operations manager Graham Diamond said that he is unaware that the marina’s construction is based on any environmental certification program, but that, “I’m sure we will be at the end of the day.”15
Asked if the new marina has taken measures to address the impacts of climate change, owner McQuilkin answers, “That’s a difficult question. We don’t have a plan in place per se.” However, he emphasizes that a number of their environmental measures, such as water recycling and use of renewable energy, will help to reduce the marina’s GHG emissions and mitigate impacts of climate change. As McQuilkin has stated elsewhere, “Our design will make it far less weather sensitive than other marinas.”16 But the reality is that Tyrell Bay Marina, and other marinas throughout the Caribbean, are among the most climate change-vulnerable tourism assets, in part because of their need to straddle the shoreline and near ocean. It seems clear that without additional steps to protect vital coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, or to clearly plan for major storms and other predicted impacts, new marina projects such as Tyrell Bay will likely become future victims of climate change, rather than models for adaptation and resilience.
Notes
1. This case study is based on the author’s several trips to Carriacou in recent years, including in January 2017, and her email and phone communications with individuals both involved with, and critical of, the marina.
2. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). (April 2003). Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique: The Yachting Sector. Prepared as part of the Dutch-funded project NET/00/79 “Development of a Regional Marine-based Tourism Strategy.” 6, 23, 38.
3. Lena Downs and Associations with Delta Logistics, Ltd. (March 2002). Ecology and Natural Resources and Marine Engineering and Hydrology. Environmental Impact Assessment of Tyrell Bay Marina and Haul-Out Facility. Prepared for Jerome McQuilkin and Associates, ii, iii, vi.
4. Lena Downs and Associations with Delta Logistics, Ltd. (March 2002), iii.
5. Letter from Nelson Andrade Colmenares, Coordinator, Caribbean Environment Programme, Regional Co-coordinating Unit, United Nations Environment Programme (UNDP) to the Honorable Members of the Government of Grenada. (February 17, 2014).
6. C-FISH. (2017). Sandy Island Oyster Bed, Carriacou. http://www.c-fish.org/where-we-work/carriacou/
7. Image Source: Samantha Hogenson, Center for Responsible Travel (CREST).
8. Jerome McQuilkin, Co-Owner, Carriacou Development Corporation, and Graham Diamond, Operations Manager. (January 7–10, 2017). Telephone interviews with Martha Honey.
9. Government of Grenada. (June 3, 2013). “Tyrell Bay Marina Project Ready to Move Forward.” http://www.gov.gd/egov/news/2013/jun13/03_06_13/item_1/tyrell_bay_marina_project.html
10. Orlon Jules, Chairman, Mangrove Oyster Bed Protection Community, Inc. (MOB-PC). (August 2014). Personal communication with Martha Honey.
11. Kit Stonewalling. (July 2, 2014). “Letter: Tyrell Bay Marina a Plus for Carriacou and Petite Martinique.” Caribbean News Now. http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Letter%3A-Tyrell-Bay-Marina-a-plus-for-Carriacou-and-Petite-Martinique-21844.html
12. Orlon Jules, Chairman, Mangrove Oyster Bed Protection Community, Inc. (MOB-PC). (July 12, 2013). “Petition to Protect and Conserve Our Threatened Tyrell Bay Ecosystem.”
13. Letter from Nelson Andrade Colmenares, UNEP. (February 17, 2014). Op cit.
14. Jerome McQuilkin, Co-Owner, Carriacou Development Corporation. (January 10, 2017). Telephone interview with Martha Honey.
15. Graham Diamond, Operations Manager, Carriacou Development Corporation. (January 6 and 7, 2017). Telephone interview with Martha Honey.