ADVERTISEMENT
Alex Botelho enjoying Barbuda. Photo: Al Mackinnon

THE ISLAND OF BARBUDA IS UNDER THREAT

Home to incredible waves and a beautiful eco-system, the island needs our help

The island of Barbuda is under threat and it needs our help. Barbuda is home to not only a diverse ecosystem but also home to some incredible waves that we have documented in the past.

Waves like this:

Photo: Al Mackinnon

That gives you a vision like this:

Photo: Al Mackinnon

An anonymous group of activists known as the Save Barbuda movement, in partnership with the Global Legal Action Network, have set up a campaign to stop the island of Barbuda being devastated by a massive, illegal building project for the super-rich. Barbuda is a small, low-lying and arid island in the Caribbean. It contains critical ecosystems, unique flora and fauna, and a highly-mobile natural coastal barrier system that evolved over millions of years. To make sure people leave it alone, a large section of Barbuda has been declared a protected wetland area under an international treaty called the RAMSAR Convention. Barbuda also contains a world-class wave at Palmetto Point, a fragile system of sand dunes and mangrove ecosystem located on the southwest tip of the island.

In 2017, Hurricane Irma damaged or destroyed approximately 90% of structures on Barbuda. While the island was evacuated, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda – which operates from Antigua – pushed forward new laws permitting the takeover of vast areas of communally-held land on Barbuda, to sell to outside investors.
The delicate nature of a place like this, and the fact that it is protected under an international agreement, would make you think that nobody in their right mind would try to build a 600-acre luxury housing complex for billionaires, complete with its own airport and golf course, right on top of Palmetto point. Well, you’d be wrong. Work has already started on such a project, and, apparently, several properties have already been sold. It is called Barbuda Ocean Club, and the company behind it is called Peace, Love and Happiness (PLH).

The construction will have dire consequences. It will destroy the ecosystem, with its unique flora and fauna. It will alter the coastal morphology, which could destabilise the rest of the island and jeopardise other human settlements. And, of course, it will threaten the surfing wave at Palmetto Point.

In just three months, the island went from lush paradise to a bulldozed wreck and it only stands to get worse.


Apart from being an environmental and social crime, the project is illegal, because it is inside a Ramsar protected area. So please help to stop it by going here: 
https://www.instagram.com/savebarbuda/

www.savebarbuda.org

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SUBSCRIBE TO TRACKS
A bi-monthly eclectic tome of tangible surfing goodness that celebrates all things surfing, delivered to your door!
SUBSCRIBE NOW
HAPPENINGS
Your portal to cultural events happening in and around the surfing sphere.
Find Events
SUBSCRIBE TO TRACKS
A bi-monthly eclectic tome of tangible surfing goodness that celebrates all things surfing, delivered to your door!
SUBSCRIBE NOW
HAPPENINGS
Your portal to cultural events happening in and around the surfing sphere.
Find Events

LATEST

Ellie Harrison's dream CT debut just got a whole lot more dreamy.

Pairing Italy's famous delicacies with a healthy dose of barrels.

The formation of Goons of Doom, why you should get pissed at their gigs and what a band with Occy, Steph Gilmore, Yago Dora and Jacko Baker would sound like.

ADVERTISEMENT

PREMIUM FEATURES

Bestowing the highest praise upon a surfer.

An edited extract from ‘The Immortals of Australian Surfing’ by Phil Jarratt.

How a land-locked mainlander chased ocean dreams to the North Shore lineups and beyond.

TRACKS PREMIUM

Get full access to every feature from our print issues, read classic Tracks issues from the 70s, 80s and 90’s, watch all of our classic films & more …

TRACKS PREMIUM

Get full access to every feature from our print issues, read classic Tracks issues from the 70s, 80s and 90’s, watch all of our classic films & more …

CLASSIC ISSUES

A threat to Angourie, the death of vibes, and a tongue in cheek guide on how to become a surf star.

PREMIUM FILM

YEAR: 2008
STARRING: JOEL PARKINSON, MICK FANNING AND DEAN MORRISON

This is the last time the original cooly kids were captured together and features some of their best surfing.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

PRINT STORE

Unmistakable and iconic, the Tracks covers from the 70s & 80s are now ready for your walls.

Tracks
Kandui Resort Interstitial