[Coral-List] Pledge to Stop Dredging on #Seaflower MAB @UNESCO

[Nohora Galvis]

Dear colleagues,

Ten days ago, we published our official petition to the Colombian President
Ivan Duque to stop dredging on coral reefs area that was already impacted
by Hurricane Iota Category 5.

Until now we received an official replied from the Presidency, assigning to
the Authority of National Environmental Licenses to reply why they are
allowing dredging with a license two years before the Hurricane, without
updated bathymetry and without ecological characterization after Iota.

The only message received from the Coral- list was from David Blakeway to
require the license. Here is the license from July 18 2018:

http://portal.anla.gov.co/sites/default/files/res_1105_18072018_ct_3744.pdf

Last week a commission from ANLA went to visit the Dredging Project to
follow its activities....based on our request to review it. All the
background has changed after Hurricane Iota....

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3663764350326267&id=317788734923862

The main objective to make deeper this channel, one month after Iota, it is
not very clear. Even the interested in dredging know that after a climate
change major event, depths, underwater currents and underwater biota have
been affected. It is not wise to start a project without updated
información.  Even we had in november reports that some dive sites were
deeper 5-4 meters after Iota.

The channel has been accessible after Iota. Therefore, it was not necessary
to do it when the ecosisystem integrity may be even harmed more than
considered before the Hurricane Iota.  The dredging project is completing
more than 100000 m3 sand extraction ande deposition without the previous
process of community consultation, the objective was hidden on the
Solidarity efforts to "Rebuild Providence".  The social compensation
projects are at very financial cost.

We are working following the procedure of the Coral Reefs Observatory
within our citizen science program.

El vie, ene 22, 2021 11:49, Nohora Galvis <icri.colombia at gmail.com>
escribió:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
> This is the Request directed to the New President Ivan Duque who ends in
> 2022 and his New Director of Environmental Licenses, a Person who was
> working on Climate Change Disasters. We request immediately stop the
> Project #DragadosProvidencia that already poured 15200m3 sediments in his
> first phase of 35% .
>
> https://mobile.twitter.com/ArrecifesCoral/status/1352634612745441288
>
> This is the map of the License 2018 based on studies made FIVE YRARS AGO
> 2016
>
> https://mobile.twitter.com/ArrecifesCoral/status/1352293604690190338
>
> Here find photos of some of the recently dead organisms found in relation
> with the Dredging Operations.
>
>
> https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3629306730438696&id=317788734923862&__tn__=%2As%2As-R
>
> There are also complaints from Archeologists for damage to valuable pieces
> of sinked ship.
>
> We are open to provide further details like the whole very old License and
> complaints from the fishers' community with georeferenced reports, if you
> contact us directly or if necessary again through the Coral-List with more
> links.
>
> Let us prevent further local unnecessary coral reefs threats in the world.
>
> Please present yourself if you are a member of the Coral-List who is in
> favor of dredging a Man and Biosphere Reserve with an obsolete License of
> 2018, when there is not consideration that the coral reef ecosystem is
> trying to recover from recently Hurricane Iota.
>
> If nobody replies defending this irregular permit in a week, Please allow
> us next week to mention in our social media than more than 10000 of the
> Coral-List members during a week had the chance to comment on the
> assertiveness of dredging to deeper an Access Channel that was already
> accessible before dredging it, debris was removed before the dredging
> project.
>
>