The Tribune

THE Bahamas last week participated in talks on how tourism-based economies can mitigate and adapt to cliate change at the United Nations (UN) COP27 conference,

Tarran Simms, co-ordinator within the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation’s sustainability department, was among the panellists in discussions between national tourism entities as part of the United Nations Forum on Youth.

“I am excited to represent The Bahamas as a member of the small island developing states community and speak on the ministry’s sustainability initiatives, which are all public-private partnerships undertaken with stakeholders representing local, national and international organisations,” Mr Simms said.

He spoke on sustainability programming currently being undertaken by the ministry in climate mitigation and adaptation, plus community-based tourism, which is underpinned by the ESG principles of environmental conservation, socio-cultural heritage preservation and governance.

Among the initiatives cited by The Bahamas is the Mission for the Mangroves Project, which was developed to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change in vulnerable communities on Grand Bahama that were decimated by Hurricane Dorian. The Category Five storm eradicated 60 percent of the island’s mangrove cover.

The project is supported by public and private sector tourism and civil society, with a focus on mangrove replenishment and reforestation that rebuilds coastal resilience and the protection of coastal communities exposed to climate impacts. The partnership initiative facilitates the training of BahamaHost certified transportation providers in the mangrove life cycle and their purposes, as well as mangrove replenishment and environmental stewardship, for their eventual designation as ‘Stewards of The Environment’ (SOTEs).

Additional capacity building in the use of digital technology will create a destination tour experience for visitors interested in nature-based experiences, or fostering environmental protections and volunteerism during their travels. The use of digital technology in booking these tours is intended to ease the burden of conducting business in a digital space for stakeholders on the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama.

Meanwhile, a governance-related initiative, Destination Stewardship, involves a partnership between the Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council to bring sustainable tourism standards and leadership in destination management to the community level within the Family Islands.

It is designed to foster more inclusive approaches to tourism governance through the formation of destination stewardship councils (DSCs) as legal entities. Once established, councils undergo capacity building in sustainability standards, visitor expectations in tourism product and service delivery, and good governance in destination management and competitiveness.

They also undertake projects in areas such as culture and heritage preservation, environmental/ waste management and safety and security based on their unique attributes and tourism priorities. The first group of five DSCs, located on Andros, Eleuthera, Harbour Island and Exuma, were legally formed in 2020.

Some have deployed branding strategies that have already attracted international partnerships. This year, another five islands, namely Grand Bahama, Cat Island, Long Island, Abaco and Bimini, are engaging in sustainability training as a step towards Council formation. The Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation said it aims to facilitate destination stewardship council development on each of the 16 islands it promotes

Councils are exposed to knowledge products and capacity-building webinars in tourism planning and management, and sample case studies in international tourism sustainability; the formation of legal entities in The Bahamas; sustainable waste management for destinations; preserving local heritage and handicrafts; grant writing, international community-based tourism networks (Planeterra) and international best practices in destination sdtewardship.

In the New Year, councils will participate in local programming in community tourism to improve their knowledge of disaster risk management policies and practices via the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) online training platform.

The Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation has also spearheaded an aluminium recycling pilot project within its headquarters with Cans for Kids and Wastenot Bahamas, whichs seek to change attitudes and influence behaviours. Educational campaigns were launched to sensitise staff, and enlighten their households, on the long-term benefits of recycling to reduce solid waste in landfills.

Collections of thirty cents for each pound of aluminium recycled is returned to the community to support essential children’s programmes. The programme has expanded to include festivals and local events in New Providence, and there are plans to roll them out on the Family Islands in the near future.

Elsewhere, the Andros community-based Tourism (CBT) cluster project seeks to position the island as the premier ecotourism destination within The Bahamas. It brings together stakeholders from various sectors working with a cluster of businesses within the four districts of Andros to execute a cluster development plan.

The plan focuses on improving business resilience, marketing capacity, product quality, and packaging and tour guiding to drive growth and re-position the destination to deliver increased income generation and improved demand for the destination’s product and service offering.

The project also promotes the importance of natural and cultural heritage conservation. It has targeted proven community-tourism initiatives such as flats fishing and bird-based tourism, which are considered low carbon activities. And, through the addition of more nature-based and cultural heritage experiences, it seeks to advance a vision for successful all-year nature-based tourism on Andros.

Kristal Bethel, senior director for sustainability at the Ministry, said: “This kind of programming also helps to simplify understanding of the complex issues and concepts around sustainability within Family Island communities.

“Given the importance of our tourism GDP in promoting positive and sustainable growth, we must take more seriously our national commitments to climate change, the global realities emanating from the conference of the parties and how we at the Ministry can continue to progress these types of projects within The Bahamas.”