Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary

However, due to an ongoing dispute between the owner and the Barbados government over uncontrolled pollution, allegedly from bordering government-owned land, it has been closed to the public.

This is the last significant mangrove swamp in Barbados, and its international importance as a reserve and as a staging post for thousands of migratory birds was recognised by it being declared a Ramsar wetland.

However the mangroves and the wildlife that they support are considered to be at high risk of dying in the very near future due to: the increasing dilution of the brackish water by fresh-water run-off, the deliberate dumping of raw sewage into the swamp by the government's South Coast Sewage Treatment Plant, and the deliberate blocking off of the sea-water sluice at Worthing Beach.

In the early 2000s visitor facilities were planned to include catering, a souvenir shop, information boards, written guides, and an education room.

The issues and reasons appear to be many and varied but summarise to: In April 2010 a major scientific survey was carried out on the sanctuary grounds, the swamp, and the adverse factors affecting the health of the mangroves and wild-life that they support.

And in the last few years the BFP has reported that locals have been breaking into the grounds and aviaries with the attempted theft of the St. Vincent parrots resulting in one dying, and to poach the crabs and fish in the swamp.

With what is evidently active opposition from the Barbados government towards its preservation the future of the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary and the Ramsar wetland is at very high risk.