The Ministry of Natural Resources has emphasised the importance of the Long Bay, Beef Island Beach Management Plan, as conditions at the beach continue to quickly deteriorate and pose environmental concerns for the territory.
As explained by Environmental Officer Angela Burnett-Penn, the Long Bay Beach, as one of the few remaining intact beach systems, is of grave environmental significance.
“Long Bay is one of very few remaining, whole, intact beach systems and by that, I mean we have the full gamut of marine and coastal systems. Everything from fringing coral reefs on the other side of the bay that is supported by the pristine water quality of the bay and salt ponds that actually help to maintain that water quality. So it is one of those systems that is really special and needs to be protected to make sure that it can continue to benefit us in this current generation and generations to come”, she said.
Burnett-Penn spoke during a virtual community meeting on October 11th.
She noted that the Long Bay Beach is widely used by the entire BVI population and visitors to the territory for a variety of reasons including those of social, recreational, cultural and spiritual nature.
She said it contributes to the overall quality of life in the territory.
As the 3rd most visited beach in the BVI and possibly the most used from the residential perspective, Burnett-Penn said that conditions at the Long Bay Beach have begun to reflect the impact of this constant, and often irresponsible use.
“All of those changes and new activities have really shifted Long Bay from what was a very low threat beach to one of the beaches with the highest threat levels in the territory, where currently the beach experiences 11 out of the 17 potential threats to beaches identified in the Virgin Islands Beach Policy which was approved in the last few years and it’s at risk for another 3 threats”, she said.
The existing threats facing the beach were identified as follows:
Deteriorating Coral Reef Structures, degraded wildlife habitat (turtle and shorebird nesting), litter, clearing beach vegetation, sand mining, compacting of sand dunes by vehicular traffic, sea level rise combined with minimal building setbacks which reduces the ability of the beach to adapt by migrating inland, lighting bonfires and beach barbeques which soil the sand, unregulated activities within the beach zone such as use of heavy equipment, ill-placed temporary and permanent vending and beach bar facilities and their accessories, multiple and conflicting uses of some beaches that reduce beach visitor experience, lack of consistently applied use and safety guidelines, and noise pollution from loud music not authorised for special events.
Three additional issues namely: poor water quality; persistent, mass sargassum landing and overcrowding are currently being monitored and could be added to the list in the absence of relevant intervention.
The Ministry of Natural Resources hopes to guide these interventions through the Beach Management Plan, which is currently in its draft detailed stage.
Feedback from the public is being considered ahead of the plan being finalised in the coming weeks, after which it will be presented to Cabinet for approval and revisions.
An in-person community meeting will be held on Thursday, October 13 at the East End Methodist Church Hall at 6:30 pm.