The Tribune

By DR NICK HIGGS

As a Bahamian scientist, I am writing today out of deep concern, but also a renewed sense of hope. As you may have read in the OpEd by fellow Bahamian researcher, Candace Fields, last November, a crisis is developing for the Bahamian scientific community. In her eloquent article, Candace explained that more than a year ago we were thrown into chaos because, almost overnight, it became nearly impossible to secure approvals to do vital research and environmental conservation work in this country.

Most of this is the result of a new, flawed piece of legislation, hastily passed by the previous government, called the Biological Resources and Traditional Knowledge Act 2021. The aim was to regulate research permits throughout the country, but unfortunately this misinformed law takes a blanket approach that treats everyone the same. This means harmless in-country conservation and research now faces heavy obstacles and restrictions that would be more appropriate for a risky external entity - for example an experimental pharmaceutical lab, stem cell research facility or genetically-modified food company.

As a result, hugely beneficial ecological research and vital conservation by Bahamian scientists and their partners all but ground to a halt, and our programmes are suffering serious economic fall-out - and maybe even complete collapse - as a result.

I feel a moral and professional obligation to the country, and to the environment, to add my voice to this issue. From the beginning, it was my hope that the scientific community’s efforts to work constructively with government agencies would yield fruitful solutions. In the first months of this crisis, these hopes seemed destined to be dashed against the sharp rocks of official stubbornness.

Thankfully there is a new administration in office, and I am heartened to know that the new Prime Minister, attorney general and Cabinet have undertaken to fix the law to make it fair and equitable to both Bahamian and foreign scientists alike.

We all know that legislative change takes time and should not be rushed. After all, that is how we got into this mess in the first place. I was therefore overjoyed that the Government seemed willing to consider issuing provisional permits in the interim, while Cabinet works to revise the law to fulfill its original aim – raising public funds through patents, while at the same time promoting and facilitating conservation-oriented, non-profit scientific research and ecosystem restoration. But even these provisional permits seem nearly impossible to come by without a press conference and massive public outcry. This has to change, and quickly.

The Government has issued one such provisional permit, to marine conservationists skilled at treating corals infected with the deadly and fast-moving Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD). This relentless plague is ravaging the country’s reefs at an alarming rate and there is not a moment to be lost in the fight to stop it.

I applaud the Government for recognising the crucial importance of tackling the SCTLD crisis, and hope the move foreshadows other provisional permits, including for my team of researchers at The Island School’s Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI). We have been under incredible stress over the past several months because we have essentially been unable to carry out our core work - scientific research and conservation.

I take pride in being the first Bahamian director of the Cape Eleuthera Institute at The Island School, an organisation that undertakes important scientific research in The Bahamas and educates students of every age about our country and our environment, and how we can best take care of it. In 2018, I left my tenured position at a British university to return home with the hope of using my experience for the betterment of my native land. It has been very difficult to accept being unable to do my research and, even worse, as a leader, unable to help my staff undertake work that I know is critical for the development of The Bahamas.

Science is highly collaborative and global in scope, and partnerships with foreign scientists and funders are key to achieving the dream of science by Bahamians for Bahamians. Because of a partnership with the University of Miami and NOAA, we were able to expand the scope of our research and hire a rising star, Marjahn Finlayson, a Bahamian expert on hurricanes and climate change. Our Bahamas Coral Innovation Hub partnership has trained dozens of young Bahamians as reef-rescue divers and provided opportunities for Bahamian researcher development, yet this project has been without a permit for over a year, resulting in me losing a member of staff.

On another project, I have a Bahamian PhD student here that has been waiting for a research permit since July 2021, all the while valuable tuition fees are squandered. Casting away international expertise and rejecting local knowledge, capacity building and training for the next generation of Bahamian scientists is counter-productive, and the world is starting to see us as a country that is hostile to science. Far from being an example followed by other countries, they are looking on in shock at the self-destruction of our sector. For example, the US National Science Foundation is actively diverting funding away from The Bahamas.

In the regulatory environment of the last year, where a permit has been harder to come by than fresh snapper on Good Friday, talented young scientists have been prevented from coming home to contribute to their country. We have been pushing out our own people instead of encouraging them to come home and conduct their research for the public good.

We complain about brain drain, yet impressive Bahamian scientists who have been denied permits and forced to stay away are now contributing to other countries’ scientific knowledge base and, indeed, to other countries’ economies.

In the writing of this legislation it seems as though the authors forgot to recognise that there are Bahamian scientists, including many that are doing important work in support of our country and our ecology. This is made very clear by the fact that there are no fee categories for Bahamian research scientists. It is a particularly vexing issue to understand given society’s push to expand local capacity to carry out more of our own research - by The Bahamas for The Bahamas. The fact that fees are levied under the act for Bahamian students (some in the hundreds of dollars) is unconscionable. These are by definition people who do not earn a salary.

The fee structure, as it stands, is completely disconnected from the Bahamian professional reality. For example: Doctors, lawyers or real estate agents pay annual licensing fees in the hundreds of dollars. On the other hand, and without explanation or justification, the fee structure imposed in 2020 requires professional scientists to pay in excess of $1,000 to perform our basic jobs and, as such, contribute to the economy. I was heartened to hear the new director of the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) commit to a revised fee structure at a recent meeting with stakeholders. I encourage this reform to be published as soon as possible, and to pursue a nationally consistent and globally competitive fee structure.

Like any institution, business or even Government, it becomes very difficult to justify employing people who are not actually able to carry out their job duties. If we do not receive scientific permits soon, Cape Eleuthera Institute will begin experiencing very real financial hardship. In fact, we already are, as visiting scientists have cancelled their visits due to lack of permits. Most sadly, some Bahamian environmental non-profits and researchers have already been forced to leave the country due to these real financial consequences. We hope they will come back if/when this exclusive permitting structure is remedied, or if they are granted provisional permits in the meantime.

My humble request to the DEPP and other Government actors is that they continue to issue provisional permits to us and to our partners alike, until the Access to Benefit Sharing (ABS) law is equitably reformed and focused on its true intent - value capture for the Bahamian people in the case of a research breakthrough, such as a drug discovery or groundbreaking conservation strategy. A properly reformulated law could trigger a huge windfall for the Bahamian people by welcoming and facilitating the work of commercial bioprospectors on the cusp of major pharmaceutical breakthroughs. We truly can save our environment and reap the financial benefits of scientific research at the same time.

In the meantime, my fellow Bahamians, please understand that our non-profit science is for the public good, and more often than not meant to directly assist Government agencies in their day-to-day decisions about resource management and nature conservation. Please join me in encouraging the Government to continue bridging the gap by issuing provisional permits for our work to continue, while Cabinet works to right a grievous legislative mistake.