fp Turks and Caicos

TCI Protected Areas

Some developments can make positive contributions to society, and some projects are disastrous. A few years back, a development of the latter sort began within the boundaries of the Princess Alexandra Nature Reserve.

Star Island, as it was infamously known, was to be an exclusive enclave for the rich and famous modeled after the elite addresses contained upon the artificial islands off the shores of Dubai. Rather than wealth, the creation of Star Island perpetrated an ecological poverty upon the local ecosystem that persists to this day.

An ecological cataclysm from the start, Star Island proceeded with limited environmental impact studies and then went from bad to worse. Dredge material was scraped from the nearby channel and then heaped indiscriminately into vital estuarine habitats, spreading fine silt sediments throughout the region and smothering fragile corals, seagrasses and myriad other marine habitats in the process.

Now the rightfully abandoned project mars the pristine landscape like a toxic trash heap, leaching life-choking runoff into the surrounding ecosystem with every rain.

Unfortunately, the Star Island debacle took place in the center of a critical marine habitat. The mangrove estuaries and seagrass beds that meander throughout the Princess Alexandra Nature Reserve form the basis of an extensive marine food web and juvenile foraging area that supplies the coral reefs of Grace Bay with their proverbial life’s blood.

Adding injury to the insult of sedimentation, the dredging and filling of vital estuarine habitats is now depriving the fragile reef ecosystem along the northern shoreline of Providenciales of nutrients and replenishment of species.

But all is not lost. Marine ecologist Marsha Pardee of MerAngel; the Caribbean Wildlife Foundation; and Mark Parrish of Big Blue Unlimited are trying to create vital habitats where now only dredge material exists. The goal is to create a new and vibrant mangrove community on the spoils of Star Island.

Like the keystone that supports the entire structure of an arch, mangrove communities are the foundation upon which adjacent marine ecosystems are built. As the mangroves’ leaves fall into the water, they slowly decompose releasing vital nutrients into the nearby aquatic habitats.

The large, stilt-like prop roots of the red mangrove provide a medium upon which microscopic communities of sponge, algae and corals, as diverse as tropical rainforests adhere, feeding off the rich nutrients provided by the trees. The tangled jungle of prop roots provide shelter for juvenile snapper, bonefish and other commercially important species, and the roots also stabilize the shoreline, protecting adjoining land areas from erosion and seasonal storm surges. As mangrove communities develop, they infuse the entire surrounding marine ecosystem with productivity and vitality.

For $25, supporters can adopt a mangrove. Visitors and residents are invited to participate by planting their own adopted mangrove sapling on Star Island on Big Blue’s Kayak Ecotour or to simply make a donation to the cause.

All contributors will receive a certificate of adoption by e-mail, and their names will be added to the list of supporters.

In the ecological world, to err is human. Rarely, an opportunity arises to correct environmental mistakes and make reparations. With the support of the wider Turks and Caicos Islands resident and visiting community, we can make an ecological paradise where now only a slag heap exists.

For more information on the Adopt a Mangrove Campaign, visit www.merangel.net/mangroves. To adopt a mangrove, contact Big Blue Unlimited at 649-946-5034, 649-231-6455 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; or Marsha Pardee at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Read all the TCI Protected Areas series in our Environment section.

For more information on Protected Areas, visit www.environment.tc/Protected-Areas-Division.html.

Terrestrial ecologist and Master Gardener Kathleen Wood, B.Sc., is a Permanent Resident of the TCI, dividing her time between the Turks and Caicos and North Carolina. She is the author of many publications including the book, “Flowers of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands.” She has worked for the public and private sectors on many environmental projects in the Bahamas, TCI and U.S. Anyone interested in discussion on a broad range of environmental issues can follow Kathleen on her blog at www.killingmother.blogspot.com.