Save Punta Banda: no golf course!

As citizens of Ensenada, and the world, we are profoundly dismayed and angered by the project you are promoting known as Punta Brava.

This project, rather than promoting much needed protection of the environment as we would expect from a person of your stature, will lead to irreversible impacts on the cultural patrimony of all the residents of Baja California, on our regions flora and fauna, and on the quality of life of local communities, both in the present and in the future.

Punta Banda (the original name of the site where the golf course is planned), is known for its enormous cultural value and its extraordinary ecological and landscape values; it is one of the few remaining areas of maritime coastal scrub of the highest quality and diversity in Baja California. In fact, as this type of vegetation has become increasingly rare, the authorities of the state of California have declared this vegetative community to be Threatened and have given it special protection.

Your project attempts to circumvent the will of local citizens and our regions land use zoning ordinances, seriously affecting the site by causing the following impacts (among others):

 Loss of biodiversity and permanent consequences on the ecosystem due to the destruction of native habitat;
 Loss of cultural heritage and archaeological sites caused by the construction of the golf course;
 Degradation in the quality of water and marine life (including marine mammals) due to the enormous discharge of salt sludge from the operation of the desalinization plant;
 Loss of public access (a constitutional right of our citizens) to the cultural, natural and scenic resources of the site.

Added to the above is the well known impact that golf courses have had throughout the world due to their high level of water usage and application of chemicals required for their operation and maintenance.

All of these concerns have been reported, explained in great detail and reiterated in a timely manner to you through the representatives of your project, from whom the environmental authorities of our nation have also requested that additional information be provided, specifically because of the high level of impacts.

Nonetheless we are sorry to point out that the information provided by your representatives as a result of these requests does not reflect a serious analysis and much less a real and effective commitment to resolve the concerns of our community, nor does it address the imminent environmental and cultural impacts of the project. The technical information provided by the promoters does not sustain the stated claims that there will not be impacts, or that if there are impacts, that they will not be of consequence, or that they are insignificant, or that effective restoration can be carried out. On the contrary, they reinforce the objections that have been made regarding the probable impacts to the environment. In terms of the archaeological sites found on the land, it is evident that a simplistic and bureaucratic approach to archaeology is envisioned, which seeks to locate only a miniscule percentage of the sites on the 110 affected hectares, without serious investment in the work of long-term excavation and subsequent analysis using the best practices in coastal archaeology of the region.

Punta Bandas true potential and vocation for nature-based tourism (educational, scientific, adventure, rural and eco-tourism), utilizing its many attributes: geology, paleontology, terrestrial habitat (flora and fauna), marine habitat, human history and prehistory, could best be realized through the creation of a national, state or municipal park, with the appropriate infrastructure and interpretive centers. The use of these resources as alternative attractions for national and international tourism would create significant flows of income for the region, generating more and better quality local jobs while preserving our natural and cultural heritage, a strategy which has proven highly effective in other parts of our country and the world. We invite you to collaborate with the citizens, organizations, and specialists of Ensenada to create a park in Punta Banda, and in this way to help establish an extraordinary heritage for many future generations.

If after reading this letter, you decide to continue promoting the project with your name, your reputation, and your image, then we suggest, as a precaution, that you consider the case of Donald Trump, who gave his name to promote a real estate development in Baja California, and who today is facing a loss of prestige and various lawsuits on the part of investors.

Given these many concerns, we respectfully ask you to reflect on the serious impacts that your project would provoke in our community, and that you modify the project in order to ensure the rights of local citizens and our quality of life; that you respect the health and integrity of the archaeological sites, the environment and the ecosystems of our area. To do otherwise would be contrary to the norms of Mexico and would irreversibly affect the cultural, archaeological and natural heritage of our still beautiful region. As an international leader, rather than promoting the destruction of the natural environment, we urge you to stand up as an example of conservation and respect for the rights of citizens, and in this case, for Baja Californians.