Best Accomplishments to Date (OCT 2010)

About - Accomplishments to Date

BEST's Accomplishments to Date (October 2010):

Saved the Botanical Gardens (as earlier organisation Save the Gardens).

Initiated and led a Forum on Sustainable Tourism (Sept ’07).

Held an EcoFest (Oct ‘08).

Triggered the Government offer of a land swap that would save Southlands for use as public parkland.

Raised public awareness through demonstrations such as Green Day, community walks, concerts and picnics.

Researched, drafted and had published a position paper on the illegal development at Dockyard (published in the Royal Gazette July 3&4, 2008).

Initiated and conducted a Community Empowerment Workshop (March ‘09) to build skills of advocacy.

Initiated formation of Eco-Clubs in the Island’s schools.

Initiated a campaign to prevent the building of a beach bar at Warwick Long Bay which culminated in a successful Supreme Court Judicial Review of the Environment Minister’s decision to uphold an appeal by the developer; the Minister’s decision was quashed.

Collected over 5,000 signatures on the Save Warwick Long Bay petition.

Established BEST as a community information resource consultant and advocate.

Incorporated as a limited liability company and achieved Charity status.

Participated in a community discussion on the issue of long lining — BEST initiated and collaborated on a position paper on the topic (published in the Royal Gazette November 23, 2009).

Launched the Coalition for Community Activism in Bermuda (CCAB), a coalition of grassroots advocate organisations on public policy (the environment, youth, the elderly, social justice, human rights).

Researched, drafted and had published a position paper on the National Aquatic Centre (published in the Royal Gazette September 1, 2010).

Researched, drafted and had published a position paper on Sustainable Tourism that drew the attention of and kudos from Bermuda’s environmental organisations (published in the Royal Gazette July 13, 2010).

Made over forty written submissions to the Bermuda Plan 2008 — and made oral presentations on more that twenty of them to the Bermuda Plan Tribunal during the Fall of 2009.  BEST’s submissions included calling for:

-Mandatory Environmental Impact Assessments;

-Protected zoning enforcement;

-Restrictions on discretionary Special Development Orders.

It is worth noting that the Tribunal made a special mention of BEST’s efforts:

The majority of counter objections were received from environmental groups such as the Bermuda Environmental & Sustainability Taskforce (BEST). BEST submitted the lion’s share of these objections. Such objections were primarily lodged against those land owners who proposed amendments to agricultural land, albeit BEST also objected to the reduction and removal of woodland, open space and coastal areas. The Tribunal would like to applaud BEST for its hard work. Much time and effort by the group went into investigating each advertised objection. Such efforts certainly demonstrate the group’s sincere commitment to safeguarding those environmentally sensitive areas around the Island for future generations of Bermudians. (from the Introduction to the Report of the Draft Bermuda Plan 2008 Tribunal)

Provided support and oversight of a research project on the future of Agriculture in Bermuda. The resulting Report was publicly launched on 17 November 2010. Prior to the launch, researcher and author Aran McKittrick engaged relevant government agencies and stakeholders.