The Tribune

THE Bahamas National Trust (BNT), Ministry of Tourism, Inter-American Development Bank and the National Audubon Society (NAS) hosted a development workshop this week on bird-based tourism as the project to introduce a sustainable national nature tourism product gathers pace.

Earlier this month, a BNT team participated in a project kick-off meeting staged by the NAS - an established American environmental organisation - in Belize aimed at establishing stronger bird-based tourism programmes throughout several countries.

Key figures from the participating organisations took part in the workshop at the British Colonial Hilton on Monday, with Eric Carey, BNT’s Executive Director, making the closing remarks. The project’s goal is to create a niche, high value, sustainable birding tourism product that will use the bird-watching market to create jobs, while protecting the biodiversity and natural resources in these countries.

While bird-based tourism is not new in the Bahamas the workshop explored ways to help Bahamians, particularly those in the Family Islands, to maximise the impact of a national nature tourism product.

Matt Jeffrey, NAS deputy director and senior programme manager for the Caribbean, and Astrid Wynter, the Inter-American Development Bank represtentative in the Bahamas, were among the presenters.