The Bahamas is a string of nearly 700 emerald islands in azure waters stretching 100,000 square miles from the Florida Keys to Hispaniola, home to the Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Bahamian islands are rich in marine life and replete with pine forests and a wealth of species found here and nowhere else on Earth. Each year millions of visitors flock to these islands’ breathtaking natural beauty - and tourism accounts for 60 percent of the country’s GDP.

The Nature Conservancy has been working in The Bahamas for more than 10 years with the government and a variety of partners to protect its natural resources for its people to use today and into the future. 

The Bahamas is now embarking on an ambitious project to build political support and garner long term financing for protected areas across the Caribbean – The Caribbean Challenge. 

Enlightened Precedents and Ambitious Commitments

The Caribbean Challenge is the continuation and culmination of several efforts to create well managed protected area systems in The Bahamas.

Creating protected areas helps protect fresh water, food and medicinal sources as well as add to economic growth. Currently, only one percent of The Bahamas’ marine and terrestrial areas are in its national parks system.

Protected areas across the Caribbean are crucial for:

• the conservation of biodiversity into the future;
• the protection of fisheries;
• to mitigate the effects of climate change; and
• to protect from the ravages of storms.

In 2004, at the seventh Conference of the Parties under the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-7), 190 national governments signed a unified goal, known as the Programme of Work on Protected Areas. This goal is to create a global network of ecologically-representative, effectively managed and sustainably funded protected areas by 2012.

Several Caribbean nations including The Bahamas have committed to protect 10 percent of representative marine and terrestrial ecosystems by 2010 and 2012 respectively. 

In January 2005, the Bahamian Government declared a plan to place 20 percent of its near shore marine area under protection by 2020.

In 2006, at COP-8, five Micronesian countries launched the Micronesia Challenge – a commitment to protect at least 30 percent of the near-shore marine resources and 20 percent of the terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020.

At this time the Government of Grenada announced that they would protect 25 percent of their marine and terrestrial resources by 2020. The Bahamas reaffirmed their earlier commitment to protect 20 percent of its resources by 2020 and the genesis of the Caribbean Challenge was born. 
 
Five New Reserves and Expanding and Strengthening Existing Protected Areas

In 2005 the government of The Bahamas announced the creation of five new marine reserves that will cover approximately 300 square miles of ocean as – a first phase in the creation of a national network of marine protected areas.

The Conservancy and partners are now working with a variety of stakeholders including fishermen and water taxi operators to determine the placement, scope and size of these marine reserves.

In 2006, the Conservancy led a scientific expedition to the west side of Andros Island. During the trip the scientists discovered that the west side of the island is a haven for baby sharks and turtles as well as a wealth of other species. Consultations are now being held across the west side of Andros Island with the main users of the area such as fishers, fishing guides, tour operators and citizens from nearby towns.

Science at the Helm

The Nature Conservancy is bringing its science and technical knowledge practiced in other parts of the world to The Bahamas. Here we are working closely with the government, the Bahamas National Trust and other partners to assist in the creation and management of protected areas.

The Conservancy is helping to:

• identify the places with the most biodiversity, that will help create protected areas that are beneficial to nature and the people who depend on these natural places; 
   
• use science and conservation expertise to determine the placement of protected areas;  
   
• create management plans that will help determine what resources, such as park guards are needed to protect the park; and
   
• helping the government and partners access funding so that the parks will be protected into the future.

A Plan in Place

The Bahamas government recently completed its Master Plan for the National Protected Area System. The Master Plan was completed by the government, the Bahamas National Trust, the Conservancy and other partners to identify how conservation priorities will be tackled over the next 10 years.

The Master Plan is based on solid science and includes an ecological gap analysis, an assessment of the management effectiveness of current protected areas and assessments of capacity and funding to determine where the gaps are. The plan is a blueprint for how the protected area network will be strengthened and improved in the future.

The National Protected Area System will expand current parks and protected areas to include 20 percent of terrestrial and marine areas of the country. This is beyond the 10 percent commitment that The Bahamas has made under the Programme of Work on Protected Areas.
 

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): An aerial view of Exuma Cays land and sea park ©Jonathan Kerr/TNC; A science expedition on Andros Island © Carlton Ward.