Last Chance for Lighthouse Point
Last Chance for Lighthouse Point
 

Stop Disney

 

There are plenty of places in the Bahamas where Disney can dock its cruise ships. There is only one Lighthouse Point.

Are The Bahamas and Disney Brave Enough to Tackle Climate Change?

Here’s what new Bahamian Prime Minister Phillip Davis just said before the United Nations General Assembly:

“For island nations such as ours, climate change is here. And is a real and present danger....Thus, we are not here to call for measured steps. We are here to say that big and radical change is the only response that can save our country. We are out of time.”

Lighthouse Point will be the first test of whether The Bahamas and Disney are really going to tackle these new realities. Business as usual is no longer an option if The Bahamas is to survive.

As we wrote before the September 16th election, the new Government must insist that Disney change course at Lighthouse Point and consider sustainable, climate resilient alternatives. 

The Davis Government must get a better deal from Disney for the communities of South Eleuthera and The Bahamas.

This is the Last Chance for Lighthouse Point… and the Planet. 

We agree with PM “Brave” Davis, the time for bold action is now.

 

The Point

Photo Credit: BREEF

Photo Credit: BREEF

 

Disney, please do not destroy a special natural place.

 

Lighthouse Point, at the southernmost tip of the island of Eleuthera, has been treasured by generations of Bahamians. CNN recently named the point one of the island’s handful of “showstopping sights”. It’s limestone cliffs overlooking unspoiled beaches, and turquoise waters are unique in the Bahamas. The point is surrounded by waters containing important geological features and rich biodiversity, including endangered coral, high concentrations of sharks, fish and other marine life. The surrounding ocean is so biologically rich that the area has been formally proposed to the government as a Marine Protected Area.

Yet Disney has received an initial green light from the Government of the Bahamas to push ahead with plans for a massive cruise ship port at the point. This is our last chance to save Lighthouse Point and create a sustainable future for South Eleuthera.

Join the environmental groups working to protect Lighthouse Point - take action and sign the petition to call upon Disney to secure a different, more suitable site for their cruise ship port and instead work with Bahamian citizen groups on a sustainable development alternative for Lighthouse Point. 


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Help Disney avoid making a big mistake at Lighthouse Point. Sign the petition to tell Disney to join us in protecting this natural treasure for generations to come.

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The Threat

The Bahamas is under immense pressure from a rapidly growing cruise ship industry. Lighthouse Point is among the nation’s most spectacular untouched areas, and any decision about its future should be fully informed and publicly debated. 

Disney has worked for years to build a strong environmental record. Now their cruise line is about to make a big mistake at Lighthouse Point.

Environmental Damage

The construction of a 0.6 mile long pier and the operation of a cruise ship port will cause irreparable damage to Lighthouse Point and the surrounding ocean - completely incompatible with the proposed protected status for the area.

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Climate Change and Sea Level Rise

Lighthouse Point presents Disney with the chance to demonstrate real leadership in the face of climate change. The Bahamas is the most vulnerable nation in the Caribbean to sea level rise. Disney can and should do better.

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Questionable Economics

75% of tourists in The Bahamas are cruise ship passengers, but they only account for 10% of the nation’s tourism GDP. A cruise ship port is not the best option for South Eleuthera, and the economic benefits are unclear and doubtful.

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Lack of Transparency

Disney Cruise Lines should not be rushing through its cruise ship port proposal. The concerns of Bahamian environmental groups about the EIA now underway for the project have been dismissed by Disney. 

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A Special Place

 

"Lighthouse Point is one of the most unique settings on Eleuthera, remarkable for its ecological diversity and its significant role in the cultural heritage of the island. It has played important cultural and economic roles for the people of South Eleuthera throughout the centuries…”

Elena Sesma, University of Massachusetts Amherst / Memory and History in South Eleuthera: A Report to the People of South Eleuthera

 

 

Share Your Story

 

If you have a memory of Lighthouse Point, or if this beautiful place is important to you in any way, we’d love to hear your story. Voices like yours are an important part of how we will protect Lighthouse Point. Share your story with us at the link below.

 
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The Campaign

The Last Chance for Lighthouse Point Campaign is a platform created by the partner organizations for people worldwide to convince Disney to commit to an alternative plan to protect one of our planet’s natural treasures.  

Disney has a choice to make at the end of this tale.  Disney could damage its environmental record OR Disney could join with us and other citizen groups in making Lighthouse Point a hopeful beacon for the future of the oceans. We stand ready to cooperate with Disney on a blue-green, win-win development alternative for Lighthouse Point and on locating its cruise ship port to another more suitable site.

The Partners

Meet our founding partners: BREEF, EARTHCARE, reEarth, Save the Bays, Waterkeepers Bahamas, and Waterkeeper Alliance.

We welcome the support and engagement of other organizations.  If interested in joining the Last Chance campaign, contact us here.

Featured
Bahamas Reef Environment Education Educational Foundation
Bahamas Reef Environment Education Educational Foundation

The mission of BREEF is to use education and increased public awareness to promote the conservation of the Bahamian marine environment that sustains our way of life.

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Friends of the Earth-US
Friends of the Earth-US

Friends of the Earth-US is an American environmental advocacy group with more than 2 million supporters and activists. FoE-US is a member of FoE-International, the world’s largest grassroots environmental network with groups in 73 countries. FoE-US strives for a more healthy and just world. We understand that the challenges facing our planet call for more than half measures, so we push for the reforms that are needed, not merely the ones that are politically easy. FoE-US has long been an advocate for laws and regulations to stop cruise ships from dumping waste into our oceans, polluting our beaches, contaminating our coral reefs, and destroying our valuable marine ecology.

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reEarth
reEarth

Bahamian environmental organization dedicated to increasing public awareness of environmental and animal issues, and inspiring change.

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Save the Bays
Save the Bays

Save the Bays is a Bahamian non-profit organization that exists to preserve and protect the Bahamian lands, waters and ecosystems through the promotion of policy change, monitoring the waters, community outreach, legal action and advocacy.

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Waterkeepers Bahamas
Waterkeepers Bahamas

Waterkeepers Bahamas's mission is to protect and improve The Bahamas' watersheds. Our vision is swimmable, fishable waters accessible to all and globally recognized as the natural treasure it is. At Waterkeepers Bahamas we focus on Water Quality Monitoring, Beach Profile Assessments and the Cadet Programme.

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Waterkeeper Alliance
Waterkeeper Alliance

Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 300 Waterkeeper groups around the world, focusing citizen action on issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. The Waterkeeper movement patrols and protects over 2.5 million square miles of rivers, lakes, and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa.

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