Kirtland's Warbler Training and Research Project

The Kirtland's Warbler Training and Research Project started on Andros in 2001 and moved to Eleuthera in October 2002 following the discovery of number of Kirtland's warblers there by the Ornithology Group of the BNT. This unique project is primarily funded by a grant from the USDA Forest Service International Program to The Nature Conservancy Migratory Bird Program in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service's International Institute of Tropical Forestry.

The Society for Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds

The BNT is actively involved in the work of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds both in the Bahamas and throughout the Caribbean. The BNT has been particularly supportive of the Work of the SCSCB West Indian Whistling Duck Working Group and the White-crowned pigeon Working Group.

Pew Environment Group and the BNT Shark Campaign

The Pew Environment Group work with many countries to help protect declining shark populations around the world. They partnered with the BNT in 2008 to help get the fishing regulations amended to specifically protect sharks in Bahamian territory. The amendment was officially signed on the 30th June, 2011. Pew and the BNT continue to work together to help educate the public about the importance of these important apex predators.

Tarpum Bay Discovery Club Eleuthera

One of the highest priorities of the Bahamas National Trust is the promotion of environmental stewardship among young people. To this end, the Discovery Club program helps to assist us in meeting this objective. The Club’s goal is to help its young participants acquire the knowledge, values, and skills needed to generate respect for people, nature and history. In March 2010, the Winderemere Homeowners Foundation funded the operation of two units of the Club on Eleuthera in Tarpum Bay and Govenor’s Harbour. Through the support of the Windermere foundation, club participants in the respective settlements received essential equipment, such as, first aid kits, sleeping bags, tents, and various other resources which are needed to facilitate the club’s activities.

Get to know your MPA

The Bahamas National Trust (BNT), through this project, intends to create awareness about the local and national Protected Area system; with Pelican Cays Land & Sea Park (PCLSP) being the local park, and focus of the proposed training activity. The protected area system has existed from 1959 and presently encompasses 27 national parks and protected areas across eight islands . The system needs public support to be effectively managed. There is a need for a more environmentally aware community. The project aims to achieve this through information sharing and education of the local stakeholders and MPA enforcement personnel about the benefits of the parks generally, the allowable activities in PCLSP and development strategies for the park. A further aim of the project is to acquire and integrate stakeholder feedback (ideas and management suggestions) into the larger ‘Development of an Effective Management of Marine Protected Areas in the Abacos’ project that includes the PCLSP.

Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) and the Marine Litter Campaign

During the project period more than 1,400 students and adults were educated on the dangers of marine litter and the effects of marine litter. As a part reaching out to the community about the dangers of Marine Litter, a press release was issued and published in one of the newspapers. A brochure on marine litter was created and 1,000 copies were printed and circulated. The brochure contained information that defined marine litter, the types, sources of marine litter and the impacts it has on the environment and our lives. Also as a continued effort to educate and bring about the awareness of marine litter, a video PSA was developed and aired on local television. This PSA drove home the dangers of marine litter and the importance of a clean coastline relative to clean ocean. In addition to the video PSA, a teacher’s resource manual was developed and some interactive PowerPoint games have were developed to accompany the teacher’s resources. 

GEF Full sized Project, “Building a Sustainable Network of Marine Protected Areas in The Bahamas” 

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Full Size Project (FSP) was developed to assist in meeting obligations under The Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA) to protect and effectively manage 10% of terrestrial and marine habitats by 2010 and 2012 respectively.  Furthermore, the project will seek to enable achievement of the 20% conservation target goal for  near-shore marine resources by 2020 under the Caribbean Challenge Initiative.  Strengths of the project include the component to develop a sustainable financing mechanism for The Bahamas National Protected Area System (BNPAS), which will benefit the system in perpetuity, and not just for the life of the project.  

Demonstration projects under this project address specific threats to MPAs and have the potential to be replicated throughout other systems globally.  The Bahamas National Trust leads the demonstration project which aims to develop a sustainable tourism model for MPAs, inclusive of a business plan to generate sustainable funding.  The Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park has been designated as the pilot site.  Other demonstration projects include lionfish control strategies in MPAs and incorporating climate change and mangrove conservation into planning, lead by The Department of Marine Resources and The Nature Conservancy respectively.

Mitigating the Threats of Invasive Alien Species in the Insular Caribbean (MTIASIC) Project 

The Bahamas is one of five (5) countries implementing the 4-year Global Environment Facility (GEF) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) funded project.  The project aims to broaden the approach to deal with IAS, both by strengthening existing national measures and by fostering regional cooperation frameworks through a Caribbean-wide strategy.  In parallel, each country will also address its own most pressing IAS through pilot projects, relating to prevention, early detection and rapid response, management, and eradication of the most problematic IAS.  The Bahamas takes a holistic approach to the lionfish invasion, in which The Bahamas National Trust assists The Department of Marine Resources in executing a lionfish control experiment in New Providence, Andros and Exuma (ECLSP).  The pilots are designed in that their finding and lessons learned will be readily applicable to other sites, including the Caribbean states, enabling replication of the methodologies.  Through this combination of synergetic approaches, the proposed project aims to provide the participating countries and others with the necessary tools and capacity to address existing and future biological invasions.