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Where does food come from?

A second great opinion piece by our junior member was published in the Royal Gazette on April 23rd and can be found at http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20130423/COMMENT/704239969

Warwick Long Bay Rating

Warwick Long Bay rated in CNN's top 100 beaches more at http://bernews.com/2013/05/warwick-long-bay-makes-cnns-top-100-list/

BEST responds to suggested establishment of Marine Protected Reserve

Government Ministers met with representatives of the Pew Environment Groups' Ocean Legacy Fund to discuss a proposal to establish a Marine Protected Area within Bermuda's Exclusive Economic Zone.

Report at http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20130515/NEWS/705159938

The Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) is pleased to endorse the establishment of protected marine area within Bermuda's EEZ. The Pew Environment Group and Bermuda's Government Ministers are to be congratulated for moving in this direction. This step presents a wonderful opportunity that would be good for Bermuda — putting us on the map internationally as a leader in ocean conservation with what could be the third largest marine park in the world. There is the potential such a Marine area would be attractive to tourists and scientists who could take †3-5 day boating excursions for diving, bird watching, marine research and so on, accompanied by local experts. This could open up new business opportunities† for Bermudians that would tie in with the Blue Economy concept as well as be sustainable.

The protected marine area should be beneficial to local fishing industry by protecting spawning† and juvenile development areas. It should also offer increased collaboration with international bodies and other jurisdictions.†

We would have liked for the Minister of the Environment to have emphasised the intrinsic value of the physical environment as the basis for any sustainability in the social and economic environments — both of which have other Ministers to promote them. Far too often Bermuda's unique physical environment† is taken for granted.

Bermuda's ability to grow the economy and increase jobs is dependent on maintaining a healthy environment, both on land and in our oceans.

We are grateful that the Pew Charitable Trust has Bermuda in its sights. There is much good they can do here. We at BEST look forward engaging in the public consultation process.

Note: more about PEW can be found at http://www.pewenvironment.org/

April 2013 Bulletin

BEST (Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce) 

Congratulations

Congratulations to Stuart Hayward - recipient of the English Speaking Union's 2013 Caver Cedar Chair Award, presentd to a philanthropist who has yet to be recognised for their community work in Bermuda.

SPICE HILL

BEST was alerted to the projected development of an arable area on Spice Hill by area residents. Extensive research into the planning process and the Minister's granting permission on appeal, led to the decision to initiate a Judicial Review.  This was not lightly entered into being a costly undertaking, requiring considerable legal expertise. However, in the interests of the Bermudian community and the need for Government Ministers to be fully accountable for their actions, it was the only recourse available. The full story can be found here.

 

 

Also see:

 

BEST media release: BEST contends Minister's appeal decision is flawed              7 December 2012

 

 

BEST media release:  BEST contends Minister's appeal decision is flawed                7 December 2012

 

February 2013 Bulletin

BEST (Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce)

 

Charity Reg. # 858

 

BULLETIN - February 2013

 

Grand Atlantic: Local residents have been subjected to additional noise from the use of heavy machinery, extra traffic as lorries loaded with gravel/sand visited the site, and fires being lit. BEST continues to watch and to consult with neighbours and the Department of Planning. Photos and more details at www.best.org.bm.

 

Environmental Authority: We are delighted that Stuart has accepted the invitation to Chair the Environmental Authority. This Board is tasked with responsibility for overseeing the Water Resources Act of 1971 and the Clean Air Act of 1991.

 

New Volunteer: BEST welcomes new volunteer Stephanie Bothello, who brings a wealth of experience in Environmental Research.

 

Did You Know? Planning Applications: Every week BEST reviews the list of Planning applications that appear in the newspaper.  After some preliminary research, a BEST volunteer reviews any of the planning applications that we feel need a closer look.   We are primarily interested in development applications that have zoning policies to be considered but we are learning about the many other policies that govern proposed development in Bermuda thereby enhancing our monitoring capabilities.  If you would like to learn more about the process, and perhaps even provide some assistance, please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 

We also provide guidance to any individuals or groups who are concerned with proposed development in their own neighbourhoods.  Note that applications for proposed development are advertised only once in The Royal Gazette (the Official Gazette for Government Notices) and indications from the Planning Department are that they are working to improve the likelihood that properties affected by a proposed development have an opportunity to represent their views

 

Walk the Walk: What a great day for a walk!  The 2013 ‘Argus Walks the Walk’ event was a huge success.  Participants are able to represent their charity of choice who benefit from the lion’s share of the registration fee. The BEST contingency did not go unnoticed: twelve people chose BEST as their preferred charity and that does not include the two dogs who, very happily, wore BEST T-shirts to show their solidarity! The 5K walk started bright and early at 8:15 am, with a warm-up and then we were off.  A pleasant breeze helped us to stay cool and halfway through there was a water stop that hydrated us and the dogs to go the remaining distance. We gave a BEST shout-out as we crossed the finish line and felt great for having a brisk walk, which invigorated us physically and mentally!   A big thank you to all those who chose us as their BEST charity!!

 

Earth Hour 2013, 8.30 pm Saturday 23 March Earth Hour is rapidly approaching and we urge everyone to be part of the solution.  There is more information available at http://www.facebook.com/greenrock?group_id=0).  Let’s support Greenrock again this year as they lead Earth Hour, Bermuda.  Visit the Earth Hour web site at www.earthhour.org

 

 

Many thanks to all our friends and supporters for their encouragement and varied contributions. Donations to BEST can be made online through the BEST website www.best.org.bm.

 

Wishing you a joyous Easter and the BEST kite flying ever!

 

Jennifer Flood

Communications Coordinator

 

www.best.org.bm

https://www.facebook.com/BEST.Bda

https://twitter.com/BESTBermuda

 

Comments and questions welcome… please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

2012 Winter Newsletter

2012 Winter Newsletter

Lost Opportunity -- 31st December, 2012

The end of the year has come and still there is no movement on the Park Hyatt site in St. George’s.  Further to the concerns expressed in our December 13^th press release (Media release Park Hyatt-Bazarian - Dec 13 2012 - corrected.docx), Mr. Carl Bazarian has failed once again to meet the terms of the development agreement and BEST is appealing to the new Government to terminate the agreement and so put us on the right footing as regards this lost opportunity.  Regaining control of one of our scarce and precious assets will mean that we won’t just let the fates lead us where they will.  We will begin a new year and a new era in our history by truly stepping-up to the responsibility of charting our own course in securing a development partnership that is more suitable to our small island home.

 

Mr. Bazarian has not shown the level of commitment to Bermuda that we would have expected and it is wholly unacceptable for such a treasure to be tied up once again in this type of gridlock.

 

What can happen right now is for the golf course to be reopened, with a new clubhouse if possible, so that St. Georgians can once again derive the benefit from an amenity that has been denied to them and other Bermudians over the past 5 years.

BEST responds to St George's mega-ship wharf announcement -- 14 December 2012

With reference to the article in today’s Royal Gazette titled “Mega ship wharf announced for St George’s” The Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) cautions against poorly-thought-out policies, particularly those involving major disruptions to the environment. In our position paper on this issue “Bermuda Shipping Channel Study: BEST Analysis and Response, published in the Royal Gazette on 20 December 2011 (see: http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20111220/COMMENT05/712209945), we stated the following:

 

While suggestions have been made to consider alternative docking locations (notably the proposal to build a cruise ship berth off the north shore in St George's), such proposals would also require large-scale dredging and construction with a similar price tag (an estimated $53m in the case of the proposed cruise ship berth off the north shore compared to $54.7m to $56.7m to widen Town Cut to 155m). For many of the same reasons discussed in the preceding sections, it would seem that exploring such avenues, at least in the near- to midterm, would be misguided.

 

Instead, the Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) strongly believes that efforts and expenditure to improve our tourism sector would be far better spent on less capital-intensive, smaller-scale, cost-effective initiatives aimed at:

 

· Increasing land-based visitor arrivals to better diffuse the impacts of tourism throughout the Island and to take advantage of their significantly higher expenditure per head

 

· Improving our transportation network to better service current cruise passengers (as well as land-based visitors and locals) and to diffuse their impacts across the Island

 

· Developing initiatives to increase per capita cruise ship passenger spending onshore

 

· Proactively approaching all cruise lines with ships that do meet current size restrictions, encouraging them to give Bermuda a prominent place on their itineraries, and working with them to ensure that Bermuda remains a profitable destination for both the cruise line and the Island alike.

 

Decisions made without adequate forethought and unsupported by an Environmental Impact Assessment are not in Bermuda’s best interest. And policy statements without solid evidence to support the decisions tend to be fraught with problems. We would urge policy-makers to look well, via the Environmental Impact Assessments they pledged to conduct, before making this kind of leap.