Photo of the Month

This photo of Hog Island, a small island off the south coast of the Caribbean country of Grenada, clearly shows the devastation caused by clearing done in preparation for the construction of villas and residential plots. Close by, on mainland Grenada the threat of more devastation looms. Activists are trying to halt the construction of a sprawling high-end tourist resort that would probably cause the extinction of the Grenada Dove (Leptotila wellsi), the country’s national bird. In 1994, Mt. Hartman National Park was established as a refuge for the dove, but comprises only 154 acres of the 429 acre, Government-owned Mt. Hartman Estate. To make room for the hotel, the current Government of Grenada now intends to decommission the National Park and sell off the entire Mt. Hartman Estate – an area that shelters approximately 90 per cent of all the Grenada Doves recorded on protected land.

Joint Honorary Presidents of BirdLife International’s Rare Bird Club and prominent Canadian authors Graeme Gibson and Margaret Atwood have joined in the fight to save this critically endangered bird.
Visit their Web site to learn more.

Do you have an outstanding photo and story to share? Share it with us and it could be featured as Nature Canada's Photo of the Month.
Send it now!