SIX MEN'S BAY in St Peter is the largest remaining coastal pond on the West Coast and a marina should only be constructed there if the developers are prepared to replace what will be lost by destroying the pond.

This is the recommendation of Professor Robin Mahon, director of the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill.

"The proposal to excavate [Six Men's] into a marina should only be approved if the developers are obliged to mitigate the loss of function by building water-retention structures upstream that prevent the water from entering the marina and also to replace that function by contributing to the enhancement of other ponds along the coast, such as the ones at Weston and Holetown.

"If not, they will be getting permission to develop at a cost that is much lower than the true value of this ecosystem to the country and we will have to pay the difference," said Mahon.

He said there had been about 20 coastal ponds along the West Coast of Barbados which had served to trap sediments and remove nutrients and pollutants before they entered the sea while also attracting and providing habitats for birds and ish, but most had now been destroyed.

Mahon pointed to the Sands development currently underway south of Sandy Lane; developers were allowed to destroy a small coastal pond rather than being required to protect it and enhance its function. This pond, he said, could have been incorporated into the design as an eco-feature, had been done at the Colony Club along the same coast.

The UWI researcher called for the few saltwater ponds left on the West Coast to be protected and enhanced with vegetation.

He said that if such steps were not being taken, developers were in effect getting a "free ride on the backs of taxpayers" since it was taxpayers who eventually had to bear the cost of replacing the lost services these ecosystems used to provide; it was also taxpayers who lost a source of cultural identity, natural beauty and opportunity for recreation by the destruction of these ecosystems.

"If developers are required to bear these costs, some coastal development that is currently taking place might turn out not to be not so attractive to them or even economically viable at all," he said.