LEONARDO DiCaprio’s planned eco-resort on an island he bought off the coast of Belize would be an environmental “disaster,” campaigners have warned.
Scientists at leading fisheries protection organization the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust are begging the Oscar-winning actor to preserve the wild, unpopulated 104-acre sandbar known as Blackadore Caye.
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The 48-year-old Wolf of Wall Street star and environmental activist acquired the land in 2005 with a partner for $1.75 million after a scuba diving trip to Belize’s coral reefs.
Original plans to open a luxury “eco-resort” there in 2018 and again in 2020 were postponed and a source tells The U.S. Sun that there is no development in motion or currently planned.
But activists have hit out at claims that the scheme’s planned attractions – villas, world-class restaurants and a Deepak Chopra Center for Renewal and Anti-Aging – would be “restorative” and “heal” the island.
They say that if the extravagant project goes ahead, it will be a catastrophe for marine life in the waters surrounding the Caye, which attracts fly fishermen who bring in $55 million a year to Belize.
Dr. Aaron Adams, the Miami-based Bonefish & Tarpon Trust’s science and conservation director, angrily told The U.S. Sun in an exclusive interview: “Calling this ‘restorative’ is greenwashing.
“It will be a disaster – habitat destruction that is an assault on the fishery.”
Dr Adams warned of problems ranging from dredging that he said is planned to construct sandy beaches on the island’s shores, to pollution and noise from boat traffic when the resort is complete.
He said: “The fish will be driven away and the waters contaminated.
“The responsible thing is to donate the island as a marine preserve so it is protected in perpetuity.
“We requested through various channels to interact directly with DiCaprio but there was no communication from him.
“We did meet with some of his consultants. That went nowhere.”
A source close to DiCaprio denied there is any record of anyone reaching out to discuss concerns with him over the development on Blackadore Caye.
Aerial shots taken last year show empty land, with just a few rundown wooden structures.
The pictures show how the island is lined with dying palm trees and the shoreline is covered in green algae.
‘COMPLETE HYPOCRITE’
One activist explained how a campaign led by locals had tried to shame DiCaprio into abandoning the project.
They told The U.S. Sun: “We ran a Defend Blackadore Caye page on Facebook with a photo showing him being hanged in effigy.
“People were bristling. They got really bent out of shape by the notion that he was going to ‘heal’ us by building an over-the-top resort for rich people.”
A leader of the protest, tour company operator Rebecca Arceo, added: “For DiCaprio to label this plan as environmentally conscious is just a sales pitch.
“He’s a complete hypocrite in my opinion. Fly fishing is a huge deal in Belize for the tourism industry. To call his plan green is totally disgusting.”
With no sign of bulldozers moving in, opponents were satisfied that the island had been saved.
But a source close to the developers told The U.S. Sun that the project is not dead and a travel industry website reported in August that it is now scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023.
The Top Hotel News website reported that covid lockdowns had created a pause in construction but claimed the project “now has a completion window of Q4 2023”.
According to the website, Blackadore Caye will now feature 116 rooms, comprising 68 villas, 48 estate off-the-grid homes and a private clubhouse.
It says that half the island has been set aside as a protected wildlife preserve and intends to replant mangrove and replace invasive with native species, while the development will be “completely” powered by renewable energy.
DiCaprio told the New York Times when the development in partnership with New York City-based developer Delos was announced in 2015: “The main focus is to do something that will change the world.
“I couldn’t have gone to Belize and built on an island and done something like this, if it weren’t for the idea that it could be groundbreaking in the environmental movement.”
A website for the scheme says: “Originally acquired by Leonardo DiCaprio with the vision to create the future home of the greenest luxury development ever built – this vision is now a reality.
“Blackadore Caye is the World’s first truly restorative island development – a development completely powered by renewable energy and designed to increase the biological health of species on the island and the waters around it.”
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