The Tribune

Environment group Save The Bays yesterday announced that a local group with 400 members and a history of grass-roots activism has joined its campaign.

“We are delighted to announce that yet another NGO, EARTHCARE, has joined Save The Bays,” said Fred Smith QC, a director of Save The Bays.

“When we initially proposed creating an independent non-profit organisation that would be actively engaged in seeing that the coral reefs of Clifton Bay were rescued and restored to the majestic beauty that made them world famous, we got tremendous support. But the values that attracted supporters to Clifton Bay and the western bays were greater than a single body of water and the movement has been growing beyond our wildest expectations.

“It has mushroomed overnight, now reaching waters in Bimini, Abaco, Andros, Eleuthera and Grand Bahama.”

The destruction to the Clifton Bay barrier reefs due to oil leaks and other development in Clifton’s industrial area was not the only reason EARTHCARE joined forces with Save The Bays, but it was certainly an accelerating factor, said its founder.

“We are particularly excited about the organisation’s future plans for Bimini, which I have been involved with for years,” said Gail Woon, founder and executive director of the educational organisation.

She recently received her diploma in International Environmental Law from the United Nations Institute of Training and Research.

“In joining with the Coalition, I hope to be able to utilise this new training in order to assist the group to have an Environmental Protection Act passed as well as a Freedom of Information Act. EARTHCARE will continue our environmental education efforts on fisheries, habitat, water quality, pollution, invasive species, wetlands, and any topics that teachers need through our outreach efforts. We are excited to be a part of the team.”

EARTHCARE was formed in 1988 when Ms Woon was asked by teachers to speak to their students on environmental issues affecting the Bahamas.

Funded in part by the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association Foundation for the Caribbean and The Ocean Conservancy, a quarter of a century later, more than 400 members have signed up to volunteer by visiting schools to raise awareness about issues affecting the environment.

“Having EARTHCARE join our team opens the door to a whole new set of opportunities and objectives involving environmental education,” said Mr Smith. “Gail Woon is a veteran environmentalist and her two-and-a-half decades of activism will surely strengthen the overall plans of our collaboration.”

EARTHCARE has been actively involved with International Coastal Cleanup Day for the past 25 years, was instrumental in the Coalition to Ban Longline Fishing in 1993, and has supported the Save Bimini project to minimise the impact of a mega-resort development on North Bimini among many other projects over the years.

The organisation’s efforts – including school visits to raise awareness – helped in the overall effort that led to a ban on harvesting sea turtles in the Bahamas in September 2009.