The Tribune

By RASHEMA INGRAHAM

Executive director of Waterkeepers Bahamas

THE organisers of ‘Mangrove Mania’ are extremely thankful to Ann Marie Davis, wife of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, and Minister of Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey for participating in the official kick-off of the country’s first-ever competition aimed at restoring and replenishing the Bahamas’ vitally important, critically threatened mangrove forests.

Both distinguished ladies, along with Minister of the Environment Vaughn Miller, have voiced support for this crucial effort. “We commend them for their environmental awareness and applaud the Davis administration as a whole for its focus on protecting Bahamians from the devastating effects of climate change, said a spokesman for the organisation.

As Mrs Davis noted in her remarks at the kick-off, our mangrove forests act as a crucial filter to maintain seawater purity, protect against storm surge and flooding, and prevent coastal erosion. As such, they are key to safeguarding human populations from the ravishes of ever-stronger, climate change-fueled hurricanes.

Mrs Davis acknowledged that mangroves across the country have suffered serious damage in recent times, with those in Grand Bahama and Abaco having been absolutely devastated by Hurricane Dorian. These unique and abundant coastal forests, which act as protective nurseries for a wide variety of juvenile fish and other important marine resources, have also come under increasing threat from development, especially unregulated development.

In calling for the community to unite behind Mangrove Mania, Ms Moxey pointed to the “looming existential threat” of climate change. Her appeal could not have been more timely. The evidence is now incontrovertible: the consequences of humanity’s activities for the planet’s climate will hit hardest in low-lying, small island states. The Bahamas is literally first in the line of fire. Those in Grand Bahama and Abaco who survived Hurricane Dorian know what this means better than most.

Mangrove Mania was designed as a fun and engaging competition to get the community involved and working together to source a substantial number of mangrove propagules (cuttings) for planting in areas where new mangrove growth is needed most. Some of the objectives are to: source at least 30,000 propagules from Grand Bahama; educate students, teachers, and the community about the importance of mangrove forests on infrastructure and ecosystem preservation and the wider economy; promote local stewardship of natural resources; ignite a conservation ethic among Bahamians; and increase awareness of the current dire state of mangroves forests and the looming existential threats posed if mangroves restoration efforts fail.

Nearly 100 Bahamians have enthusiastically signed up to take part. Most of them are intimately aware of the impact that storm surge has on our coastal communities – having lost homes, property, livelihoods and loved ones in Hurricane Dorian. These Bahamians know the crucial role mangroves play for our fisheries, tourism and protection from storms. Together, they have sourced thousands of propagules and the participants are now eager to begin planting them and restoring mangrove forests.

Sadly, and despite the support of many in the community, policymakers and senior figures in the Davis Administration, the project has hit a serious stumbling block: the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) has refused our application for a permit to, among other things, complete a vital stage of this effort: sharing the results of our mangrove health monitoring with the local public and the wider scientific community.

This stage is crucial. Bahamian scientists and conservationists absolutely must be part of the larger conversation around Climate Change if we are going to effectively communicate to the world that we are under severe and growing threat from catastrophic storm surges.

On the face of it, the decision seems baffling. We submitted extensive information about our support partners and paid the fee for the permit in full. Yet the refusal letter claimed that our proposal was “unclear or deficient”, “unacceptable to the Government”, that our application was “incomplete” and that we had “not paid the required permit fees”. No further details or additional information was communicated.

Waterkeepers Bahamas (WKB) and our partners, Earthcare, Coral Vita, Save the Bays, and Blue Action Lab, want to work with the DEPP to resolve this issue as soon as possible. We understand and appreciate their hard work in vetting all proposed initiatives that may impact the environment, and we are committed to doing whatever is necessary to satisfy them that our project is well researched, totally safe and critically important to the future of The Bahamas.

However, time is very much of the essence. Our participants rely on international grant money to continue their research and this will disappear if we are unable to be transparent and share our findings with the scientific community. And, of course, we are already in the midst of yet another hurricane season, when a devastating storm could develop at any time. There is no time to lose in restoring the mangrove forests – our first and best line of defense. Even a temporary permit to allow us to fulfill the terms of our project while any outstanding issues are resolved would be welcome.

Hurricane Dorian was the single most devastating event to happen to the modern Bahamas. Dozens or our people died and hundreds remain missing and unaccounted for. While we, a tiny developing nation, cannot mitigate Climate Change alone, we cannot simply stand by knowing that another national tragedy is only a matter of time. We must defend ourselves and protect our homes and communities from flooding and devastation, our fishing grounds that supply livelihoods for so many families, as best we can. We must avoid as much loss of life as possible during the next catastrophic storm.

Luckily, nature and Providence have provided us with the tools to do so. Mangrove forests are key to defending our coastlines and the cornerstone of any strategy to protect our communities, economies and lives from ruin. We do not need to reinvent the wheel, only give nature a helping hand to recover, after she has been injured in the process of defending our islands. That is what our project is about.