'I have a lot of enemies': the Honduran marine park rangers facing death threats

The tropical island of Roatán is a gold mine for tourism and fishermen but those protecting the reef want tougher laws to turn the area into a no-take zone

‘Coral bleaching is getting worse ... but the biggest problem we have is pollution’

Oscar Lopez
Wed 27 Dec ‘17 05.30 EST

“I’m like one of those old-school gangsters,” says Ralston Brooks, a park ranger on the island of Roatán off the coast of Honduras. “If you’re going to do it, do it. Pop a cap.”

The 37-year-old boat captain says he faces regular death threats from local fishermen because of his work patrolling the island for illegal fishing. “I have a lot of enemies. But you’ve got to suck it up: if we don’t do this, the reef will be gone.”

In the 17th century, the island was once fiercely contested by pirates and the English and Spanish navies, but these days Roatán is a tourist haven. The lush tropical island, far from the murder-plagued mainland, is home to dozens of resorts and receives more than a million visitors every year. But the fight for Roatán, which forms part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef system, is far from over. Local residents, conservationists and dive shops are battling to protect the island’s pristine coral reef from the threats of mass tourism, illegal fishing and the effects of climate change.

“The reef is what brings the economy to the island,” says Brooks, who works for the Roatán marine park (RMP), a grassroots non-profit organisation founded by a coalition of dive shops in 2005 to patrol and monitor the reef. “People come here to see the reef, the colour, the amazing life.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/27/i-have-a-lot-of-enemies-the-honduran-marine-park-rangers-facing-death-threats

Environment and energy:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127114605