Environmental impact

Mountain biking on Aruba's wild coast

The island of Aruba predominantly has a ‘sun, sea and sand’ tourism destination image. The Arub Tourism Authority (A.T.A.) aims to diversify the Aruban tourism product by developing tourism niche markets. One of the opportunities lies in the development of mountain biking (MTB), which is considered a popular and growing sport amongst tourists and locals. In November 2018, the A.T.A. received a proposal from an experienced trail building company in Colorado (USA) titled: Aruba MTB Trails. Developing a niche market for mountain biking in Aruba. The proposal aims to design and build some 54 km of bike optimized MTB trails.

Although the plan matches with the ambitions of A.T.A., the Authority questions whether the plan is really as sustainable as stated in the proposal. This environmental impact assessment (EIA) assessed this issue by answering following research questions:

  • What are the impacts of the proposed MTB-trails on the (ecological) environment in the project area?
  • What are the cumulative impacts (indicative) of other user groups on the (ecological) environment in the project area?
  • What measures should be implemented to mitigate or compensate any ecological impacts assessed?

These questions were answered based on a thorough literature study, a field visit in November 2019, a field study of the Aruban Burrowing Owl and interviews with local stakeholders and experts. It could be concluded that: The proposed MTB-network is, in theory, an improvement for the ecological environment when compared with the present MTB-network, though additional measures are needed before speaking about a ‘sustainable’ MTB-network.

The length of the present 50+ km MTB-network is not so much different from the proposed MTBnetwork. The main difference lies in the fact that MTBs are assumed not to ride off-road anymore in the proposed situation. Off-road riding leads to the creation of informal roads and paths and results in soil erosion, habitat degradation and fragmentation, nest disturbances and (fatal) collisions with (ground) breeding birds and snakes, which are the most vulnerable species groups. Some of these impacts were observed while visiting the area.

In the proposed situation there are still species that would show moderate or substantial vulnerability to MTBs. This has to do with the fact that proposed MTB-trails are too close to potential breeding habitat of the Aruban Burrowing Owl and Least Tern as well as the potential for MTBs to collide with snakes between dusk and dawn. This requires rerouting of the proposed MTB-trails (spatial zoning) or closure of ‘problem’ trails at least during the most vulnerable months (breeding season owls and terns) or time of day (between dusk and dawn). These measures indicate, among others, that a trail network within the Tierra del Sol nature area, which is a stronghold for the endangered Aruban Burrowing Owl, is not realistic. Our use of ‘in theory’ in the conclusion above is intentional, as the sustainability-issue goes much further than the MTB-network. The main conclusion of this ecological impact assessment is therefore that: Sustainable development of Aruba’s wild north coast, can only be achieved with a nature and visitor
management plan (including MTB) for the area as a whole, that matches with the ambitions in Aruba’s Spatial Development plan 2019.

Present ecological impacts in the project area are substantial and concern habitat loss and fragmentation, damage to vegetation and soils, disturbance of fauna and to a lesser extent also the loss of individuals due to collision and pollution. Though these impacts can partly be attributed toMTBs, it is nothing when compared to the cumulative impacts of the multiple ATVs and UTVs which dominate the area (especially the lower terrace) with their numbers, speed, noise, off-road driving erosion and dust creation. The scope of these impacts goes beyond the project area and does not only relate to the ecological carrying capacity but also to the social (local community) and even psychological carrying capacity (tourists).

This situation is contradictory to the Aruba Spatial Development Plan 2019. This plan classifies the project area in two categories nature (e.g. Tierra del Sol) and nature and landscape with characteristics like silence, low-impact visitor-use, driving on formal paths and roads as well as restoration, conservation and development of natural values. This contradiction confirms the selfevaluation by the Ministry of Nature and Environment (Min. ROIM, 2018) in which the lack of law enforcement for the conservation of nature is regarded as one of the weaknesses, while not taking into account the ecological carrying capacity of Aruba risks the creation of an unlivable environment for generations to come. These observations make clear that sustainable development of the project area can only be achieved with a nature and visitor management plan for the project area as a whole. A list of 15 actions and measures is included in this report, which it is recommended should be integrated within the nature- and visitor management plan.

Date
2020
Data type
Research report
Theme
Research and monitoring
Report number
3025
Geographic location
Aruba
Image

The consequences of construction activities associated with the build- ing of the second megapier on the coral reefs near the Holiday Beach Hotel, Curacao

On April 22nd, 2017, vessels (a large barge and a smaller working boat) that aid with the construction of the second megapier on Curacao were observed operating away from the megapier location in front of the Holiday beach Hotel (HBH). They were extremely close to shore where the barge (holding a pile driver) appeared to be anchored (Fig.1) while the working vessel pulled a large yellow object around, presumably a buoy used to anchor vessels and/ or barges (Fig. 2). Bystanders later stated that the barge was in front of the HBH before the 22nd but was towed away by a tugboat on Saturday. Presumably all aforementioned activities concern the preparations to install to pilings in front of the HBH that will be used for mooring cruise ships docked at the future second megapier...

Date
2017
Data type
Other resources
Geographic location
Curacao

The environmental impact of the reverse osmosis desalination plant on the immediately surrounding water and coral reef ecosystem in Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean

One of the most promising solutions to the growing shortage of potable water is the tapping of the oceans through desalination. Until recently the high energy costs of this technology has kept it restricted to oil rich countries in the Middle East. As the need for fresh water has grown and the technology has improved, municipal desalination has slowly expanded out of this region and several plants have been built in the Caribbean and Australia, with more planned. These two regions also house some of the highest concentrations of reefs in the world, and exceedingly little research has been done on the impact of effluent from desalination plants on coral reef ecosystems. Desalination plants release hypersaline water with heightened thermal energy, lowered O2 levels, and a variety of chemical additives. This study used a modified AGRRA benthic survey method to compare coral mortality and reef composition outside the desalination plant to a control site in Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean. The LaMotte Salt Water AquaCulture Test Kit and Hanna Instruments HI 713 Phosphate Low Range kit were used to compare water samples within and between sites. The reef in close proximity to the desalination plant was found to have significantly lower live hard coral, gorgonian, and fire coral cover, and higher sand cover by percent than the control site. The reef also showed significantly higher rates of coral mortality than the control site. The water around the plant was also found to have higher salinity, but lower levels of CO2 and nitrates than the control site. These results suggest that the desalination plant has a negative effect on the surrounding coral reef ecosystem’s health and complexity. These results should give pause to governments planning the development of desalination plants near coral reef environments until more research can be done into this technology’s_environmental_impact.

This student research was retrieved from Physis: Journal of Marine Science IX (Spring 2011)19: 57-63 from CIEE Bonaire.

Date
2011
Data type
Other resources
Theme
Research and monitoring
Geographic location
Bonaire
Author

Scuba diver behaviour and the management of diving impacts on coral reefs

Coral reefs worldwide are attracting increasing numbers of scuba divers, leading to growing concern about damage. There is now a need to manage diver behaviour closely, especially as many dive companies offer unlimited, unsupervised day and night diving from shore. We observed 353 divers in St. Lucia and noted all their contacts with the reef during entire dives to quantify rates of damage and seek ways of reducing it. Divers using a camera caused significantly more contacts with the reef than did those without cameras (mean 0.4 versus 0.1 contacts min-1), as did shore versus boat dives (mean 0.5 versus 0.2 contacts min-1) and night versus day dives (mean 1.0 versus 0.4 contacts min-1). We tested the effect of a one-sentence inclusion in a regular dive briefing given by local staff that asked divers to avoid touching the reef. We also examined the effect of dive leader intervention on rates of diver contact with the reef. Briefing alone had no effect on diver contact rates, or on the probability of a diver breaking living substrate. However, dive leader intervention when a diver was seen to touch the reef reduced mean contact rates from 0.3 to 0.1 contacts min-1 for both shore and boat dives, and from 0.2 to 0.1 contacts min-1 for boat dives. Given that briefings alone are insufficient to reduce diver damage, we suggest that divers need close supervision, and that dive leaders must manage diver behaviour in situ.

Date
2004
Data type
Scientific article
Theme
Research and monitoring