CATEGORY:SPECIAL REPORT ---------------------------- INSIDE GRENADA MONDAY May 14,2007 The Grenadian government has passed an amendment to the Grenada National Parks and Protected Areas Act, giving the Governor General the right to sell national parks land (and other protected areas) to private developers. The amendment to the National Parks Act allows the sale of the Mount Hartman National Park – the last stronghold of the Critically Endangered Grenada Dove Leptotila wellsi – for a massive hotel and villa complex. Half the global population of Grenada Dove –just 120 individual birds- are found within the Mount Hartman Estate, with the majority currently finding safe haven inside the Mount Hartman National Park. "By paving the way for the sale of the Mount Hartman National Park, the Grenada government seems to have gone back on its word that the park would remain intact," commented David Wege, BirdLife's Caribbean Programme Manager. As recently as the end of February, the Hon. Ann David-Antoine, Minister of Health, Social Security and the Environment stated in a letter that “the Government has not abolished the sanctuary [Mount Hartman National Park] nor will it do so”. "With foreign investors and developers apparently driving the development process in Grenada, the loosening of the National Parks Act is potentially devastating for the protection of Grenada’s rich natural heritage... the government have effectively advertised their crown jewels as ‘up for sale," said David Wege, Caribbean Programme Manager for BirdLife International. Conservationists have also expressed concern over recent claims from the Grenadian government that the developer responsible for the proposed Four Seasons development has been given time to undertake a full Environmental Impact Assessment, and that “no final decision on the development has yet been made” on the hotel development. Photographic evidence suggests otherwise. Approximately half of Hog Island – a critical part of the Four Seasons project – has been cleared ready for building work to commence. Since news of the potential sale of the park was announced, a number of ornithologists, conservation organisations and high-profile supporters have lent their voice to the campaign to ensure the Grenada Dove is adequately protected. Reprinted from BirdLife International