ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada-
A luxury resort planned for a national park in Grenada threatens to push a rare bird species to extinction, a conservation group said Tuesday.
Mountain Harman National Park in southwestern Grenada, the proposed site of a Four Seasons hotel, is home to 40 Grenada doves–about a fifth of the birds’ global population, according to Birdlife International, a U.K.-based alliance of conservation organizations.
The group accused the Caribbean island’s government of showing disregard for the environment as it moves to revive a tourism industry devastated by hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.
“Such a development in the heart of the Grenada dove’s largest and most well-protected stronghold might lead to the eventual extinction of this species,” said David Wege, Birdlife International’s Caribbean program manager.
Barry Collymore, a spokesman for Grenada’s prime minister, said the government does not expect the project to have a negative impact on the birds or any other wildlife.
“Grenada is not a place that has allowed infrastructure and concrete to destroy its natural habitats,” he said. “In fact, the policy of the government is to use the natural environment to enhance the tourism product.”
Collymore said Grenada has committed to the hotel project, but he said he could not provide details about its size or when construction might start because no formal announcement has been made.
The Four Seasons did not immediately respond to messages left at its Toronto headquarters.
The national park has been identified by Birdlife International as an essential habitat for 11 other species found only on Grenada or in the Caribbean.
