Sea turtles beat out resorts for PR beach

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Thanks to the philanthropy of a California trust, the government of Puerto Rico has bestowed protected status to a pristine 270-acre beach that is a nesting area for endangered leatherback sea turtles.

The first section of the planned Northeast Ecological Corridor was dedicated this week by the U.S. territory’s governor, Anibal Acevedo Vila, who proclaimed its environmental and ecotourism value a priority over the development of more beachfront resorts. Four Seasons Hotels Inc. and Marriott International Inc. had been eyeing the sugar-white sands 20 miles east of the capital of San Juan but faced a celebrity-led rebellion against development. Actor-activists Benicio Del Toro and Edward James Olmos, as well as environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., spearheaded the campaign to preserve what will eventually include 3,200 acres of beach and tropical forest.

The parcel, near Luquillo Beach, was purchased by the San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land for $12.5 million and given to Puerto Rico to inaugurate the rescue. The island government now has eight years to arrange financing for the rest of the preserve.

Posted by Carol J. Williams in Miami