16-year closure has ended as the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary reopens its gates, offering Barbadians renewed access to the island’s only internationally recognised wetland and marking a significant moment for national conservation efforts.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley and protector of the Barbados Wetlands Trust, Anthony Da Silva, addressed a diverse crowd gathered at the sanctuary on Friday, including schoolchildren, environmentalists, government ministers and international partners.
“It is with immense pride and humility that I stand before you today,” Da Silva said, “not just as the protector of the Barbados Wetlands Trust, but as a Barbadian whose roots are deeply entwined with this very sanctuary.”
Recounting childhood memories spent under the trees and beside the waterways of Graeme Hall, he described the sanctuary as “sacred ground . . . a gift returned to the people of Barbados”.
The occasion carried deeper meaning for Mottley, who recalled her 2008 parliamentary appeal for the government to purchase the site, then valued at US$26.5m [$53m].
“Obstacles are not to stop you but simply to be able to challenge you to find different ways of being able to overcome what at first appears to be unconquerablee,” she said, commending the Barbados Wetlands Trust for securing the property for $6m.
Read the full article