The Pigeon Pond and Frenchman's Creek Nature Reserve (PPFCNR) is the only landscape-level protected area in the western Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). Within its boundaries are unfragmented tropical dry forests that provide habitat to resident and migratory bird species and numerous plants that are endemic or found only within a small geographic range in the Turks and Caicos and Bahamas.
In addition to protected terrestrial habitats, the PPFCNR contains an extensive network of estuarine and palustrine wetlands that are critical habitats for West Indian flamingos and numerous other bird species. The estuaries are the only nursery habitat for marine species, such as Endangered sea turtles, sharks and reef fish. In this way, the estuaries support all of the coral reefs in the entire western half of the archipelago. Development will threaten the health of these ecosystems, reducing their ecological values and functions.
These are the only protected land areas on the island of Providenciales, which is currently experiencing rapid development. The government of the Turks and Caicos is now seeking to remove almost all of the terrestrial lands in this protected areas from the Nature Reserve in order to allow for residential, marina and hotel development. If this takes place, it will set a terrible precedent that will put all of the Turks and Caicos Islands' protected land areas at risk. Such a move also robs future generations of their natural heritage, simply for the economic gain of a few people.
