PHILIPSBURG--Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation (EWEF) maintains its position that government should not permit the plans for the Rainforest Adventures attraction to continue and should continue its efforts to purchase Emilio Wilson Estate for the establishment of Country St. Maarten's first land-based protected area and National Park.
The foundation said that after having met with Rainforest Adventures representatives on several occasions, it had come to the conclusion that Rainforest Adventures was green-washing its true plans for Emilio Wilson Estate to gain social and political support.
"The Rainforest Adventures project/Rockland Estate Park is not in any way a good example of eco-tourism or eco-activities as the developer is attempting to make the population believe," the foundation said in a press release.
"This project is focused on the commercial, mass exploitation of Emilio Wilson Estate in the form of an amusement park with no noteworthy conservation initiatives and no genuine regard for the cultural significance of the area and our ancestors who toiled on the estate for generations during slavery.
"Furthermore the proposed project does not sufficiently provide for educational activities regarding Emilio Wilson Estate's history and its importance as a unique aspect of St. Maarten's, the Dutch Kingdom's and the Caribbean's shared heritage."
The foundation said St. Maarten did not need a foreign company like Rainforest Adventures to come to the island to dictate how the island's natural resources should be managed. "There are enough St. Maarteners with years of experience in natural-resource management."
"The Daily Herald of Tuesday, November 15, 2011, featured a Job Vacancy for a General Manager at Rainforest Adventures St. Maarten. The required qualifications read as follows: 'University Degree preferably Engineer, minimum 25 years in Park Operations with a background in Ski Lift Installation, Operations and Maintenance.'
"The foundation wonders if Rainforest Adventures and Mr. John Dalton truly expected to find an engineer in St. Maarten with 25 years of experience in ski-lift installation or if the vacancy was just an elaborate scheme to facilitate Mr. Dalton and his other non-resident colleagues' attempts to secure residence and working permits."
The foundation believes Rainforest Adventures' constant attempts to compare St. Maarten to countries such as Costa Rica and Jamaica, where Rainforest Adventures has established amusement parks in green areas, are a clear indication of the limited understanding the company has of conservation efforts.
"Jamaica covers a surface area of some 4,240 square miles while the Dutch side of St. Maarten covers only 16 square miles. In addition, Jamaica has several large, protected areas which cover hundreds of square miles. The negative effects on natural resources as a consequence of establishing a Rainforest Adventures Amusement Park in Jamaica are therefore comparatively much smaller than what they would be for St. Maarten, a much smaller country with no land-based protected areas," the foundation pointed out.
"Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation urges Government to put the interest of the people of St. Maarten above the interest of large, foreign companies such as Rainforest Adventures and their partners Carnival Cruise Lines and to purchase, protect and establish Emilio Wilson Estate as St. Maarten's first National Park for current and future generations of residents and visitors to enjoy," the foundation concluded.
Oscars Niclas Alexandersson Mark Bright Robert Schumann Dorset Internet
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