Environmental Threats
and Challenges

The proposed Astera Retreat would be located just south of Punta Negra.  The area includes two freshwater lakes from which Punta Negra residents obtain their water in the dry season.  The lakes are also home to tarpon (protected by Belize law as catch and release only) and the rare Bay Snook. 

If approved, Astera Retreat will include the following:

• 53 residential units on 27 x 0.25 acre lots (Phase I)

  Two piers (one on the large lake and one on the Caribbean (Phase I)
  
• Five canals, as shown on the site plan above (Phase I)
  

• 82 residential units on 33 x 0.25 acre lots (Phases II and III)

• Dredging of 3,531,466.67 cubic feet of sand and soil - 882,866.67 cubic feet to be dredged from the boating canals and 2,648,600 cubic feet to be dredged from the sea (in an unknown location)
  
  
• Two restaurants and bars
  
  
• One lap pool
  
  
• Ninety-one plunge pools
  
  
• General store
  
  
• Sports complex
  
  
• "Assorted" recreational areas
  
  
• Capacity of 465 guests and residents
  
  
• Jobs for about 40 people during construction and about 60 when in operation.

The Belize Department of the Environment (DOE) initially required the Astera developers to submit only a concept plan for this development after being persuaded by the developer that Astera would be just a small subdivision. PCSD and the Toledo Institute of Development and the Environment (TIDE) pointed out inconsistencies between documents from the developer, the development's Website and information submitted to DOE.

TIDE and PCSD also insisted that DOE obey the law and require a full EIA because the Astera property is located adjacent to TWO protected areas - Port Honduras Marine Reserve and Payne's Creek Nature Reserve.  (Schedule I, Section 8(h) of the 2007 Revised Environmental Regulations for Belize mandate an EIA for the construction of hotels and resort facilities within or in close proximity to a protected area or world heritage site.)

PCSD further pointed out to DOE that while the initial proposal only called for dredging of 50,000 cubic yards, it was likely that much more dredging would be needed given the scope of the development.  (Schedule I, Section 9(a) of Belize's Environmental Regulations mandates a full EIA for any project involving dredging of more than 50,000 cubic yards along the coast, cayes and ecologically sensitive waterways.)

In addition, the Belize Department of Geology issued a dredging permit to allow the developer to deepen what the developer claimed was a pre-existing canal.  (Local residents disputed the existence of any such canal.)  According to the Geology Department, the dredging permit it issued did not authorize the developer to connect one of the freshwater lakes to the Sea because doing so would destroy the existing ecology of the lake. 

However, the developer DID connect the lake to the Caribbean.  Fortunately, a hue and cry was raised by local residents which forced the developer to fill in the connection.

We can't really say what finally convinced DOE to require a full EIA, but something did, and a public consultation on the development was held in Punta Gorda on 16 November 2009.

The developer is Astera Retreat Limited, a Belize corporation incorporated on 11 November 2008.  The Astera property was transferred to Astera Retreated Limited by NBP Investments, Ltd, a company with a registered address of 210 Lorine Lane in Malibu, California.

Comments at the public consultation for the proposed Astera Retreat included the following (additional information can be downloaded at the end of this page):

• Failure of the EIA to specify the type of development actually being proposed.  For example, it's not clear whether the resort will be a fractional ownership, condominium or fee simple development.  Will investors purchase lots or shares in the development?
  
• Failure of the EIA to address the construction phase of the development. For example, how will housing, garbage disposal, sewage and transportation be handled during construction? 
  
• Abstraction of lake water to supplement rain water during the dry season. The Astera calculation of the amount of water needed per person per day is based on only 54 gallons per day, which is grossly inadequate -- most developers submitting EIAs to DOE are now using a base of 75-100 gallons of water a day, still inadequate since Caribbean tourists have been documented as using up to 175 gallons per day, but more realistic that 54 gallons. 
  
  During the dry season (the high tourist season), the developer plans to take water from the fresh water lake to provide drinking water for guests, which could reduce this public lake by as much as 2 feet per year! 
  
  Not only would this pose a threat to Punta Negra Village's water supply, prolonged abstraction would lead to lake water overheating and probable algal blooms and fish deaths. The algal blooms can produce dangerous toxins fatal to man as well as animals and birds relying on bank-side drinking.  This is without evaluating the threat of eutrophication which is likely if run off or effluents leach or overflow into the lake.
  
• No provision for employee housing or transportation. Negra Village is very small, with possibly 10-12 houses.  No other housing is available for employees anywhere in the area, and the development plans do not include employee housing.  The area where the resort would be constructed can only be reached by boat, and if the sea is a bit rough, getting into the site can be dangerous, if not sometimes impossible.  Therefore, employees cannot live in relatively affordable places such as Mango Creek or PG because of the lack of affordable transportation.
  
• No information provided on location of dredging in the Caribbean, composition of the sea bottom there, bathymetry, etc.  No assessment can be made of the environmental impacts of dredging without this essential information.  Also, the EIA does state that the dredging will occur somewhere "south" of the Astera site, meaning the dredging will occur within the Port Honduras Marine Reserve.  
  
• Canals end only 300 feet from freshwater lake, making saltwater intrusion during a tropical storm or hurricane inevitable. (The freshwater lake is now over 1,300 feet from the sea except where a canal was dug and the lake illegally connected to the sea.) 
  
• Inadequate garbage disposal plans.  The EIA states that garbage will be taken by boat to the new Punta Gorda garbage dump - which does not exist.  Further, the existing PG garbage dump is inadequate to handle this amount of increased waste, and transport boat will be hazardous given the nature of the seas in the area.

Status:  According to a letter to PCSD from DOE dated 26 February 2010, Astera is still under consideration by NEAC.