Bahamas
Contact
Andre Cartwright -
Sustainable Development Officer
Ministry of Tourism
P.O. Box F-40251
Fidelity Financial Center
Freeport, Grand Bahama Island
The Bahamas
Web site: www.bahamas.com
Launch of the "Daily Reefview" and "Week In Reefview" through TheBahamasWeekly.com. "Daily Reefview" will be a healthy reef image next to an unhealthy reef image with a description of each. "Week In Reefview" will be a featured article on the key threats affect the reef ecosystem, and possible solutions.
Activities
Proclamation of the International Year of the Reef in the Bahamas by the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas
During the Annual National Coastal Awareness Month (CAM), a school science competition on Grand Bahama Island will be organized. The topic is to illustrate how one of the key threats (climate change, habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, overfishing) impacts our reefs, and possible solutions.
Development of a Reef Monitoring Program with two of the government high schools on Grand Bahama that have scuba programs, and one on New Providence Island to monitor the effects of water quality and lionfish population on reef health. It will be done on a quarterly basis (several days at a time), and we hope to launch it in the end of May.
Development of an image databank from the field visits.
Development of a Marine Best Practices Certification that would be required of anyone wishing to obtain a new/renew a Boat Captain's License. This will be done in collaboration with The Port Department (responsible for granting Boat Captain's License) as well as the Department of Marine Resources (of the Ministry of Agriculture & Marine Resources).
Major partners involved in the IYOR Bahamas are The Nature Conservancy, BREEF, the Department of Marine Resources, COB-MESI, Bahamas National Trust, BEST Commission, The Grand Bahama Port Authority's Environmental Department and various other independent stakeholders.
