The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas requires “in excess of $150m” annually to protect its critical natural resources, it was disclosed yesterday, amid efforts to raise just one-fifth of this sum to fund ongoing conservation projects.

The Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (BPAF), which was established in 2014 as a legal body to manage and oversee 121 marine and land-based protected areas, gave an insight into the scale of the financing necessary to strengthen this country and its environment against the ever-growing threat of climate change.

Launching its ‘Protecting the Gold of our natural resources’ campaign, which seeks to raise $30m over the next five years to help finance conservation partners, education and research institutions, the Fund’s senior executives acknowledged that the Government “cannot cover the cost of climate change alone”.

Glenn Bannister, chairman of The Bahamas Protected Areas Fund, said: “Studies have shown that it requires in excess of $150m annually to effectively manage the Bahamas National Protected Area System.

“This funding would ensure we have human capacity including training, certification, technical skills for on-the-ground management activity, monitoring and enforcement, research and education, public awareness, and mainstreaming climate action and nature-based solutions across our national protected area system.

“The Government alone cannot cover the cost of climate action, sustainability and development, and increasingly devastating Atlantic storm events,” he added. “Over the last three years, Bahamas Protected Area Fund has been supporting local partners like the Bahamas National Trust, the Bahamas Undersea Research Foundation, the University of The Bahamas, the Department of Marine Resources, the Forestry Unit, the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organization, and Waterkeepers Bahamas with grants to assess and recover from the impact of Hurricane Dorian.

“We have financed, mangrove and coral restorations, freshwater regeneration, the restoration of National Parks, the establishment of nurseries for native plant species as well as invasive species removal and debris removal. We installed solar systems at several sites including Forest Heights in Abaco and the University of The Bahamas STEM research facility in eastern Grand Bahama. We have invested more than $1.2m in grants.”

Karen Panton, the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund’s executive director, estimated the total costs associated with preserving these sites at more than $200m per year. In a video to mark the launch, she said studies have shown that typically only “one-third” of the budget allocated for conservation is available, and “stakeholders find themselves having to do the work of 19 to preserve national areas”.

“What the numbers show is we need in excess of $200m a year really in The Bahamas,” she added. “We have to find a way or bringing in all the [actors] in the space. We have developers and so forth who are extracting and benefiting, in some cases, from our natural resources; either from the aesthetics or the export.

“We have to invite them to come and have a seat at the table and help us think through how conservation should flow, how sustainable development should look like. Sustainable development is saying let’s have economic growth and progress, but let’s have it in a way that our natural resources and protection is not destroyed.”

Some 25-30 percent of the coral reefs that lay in Hurricane Dorian’s path were either damaged or destroyed by the Category Five storm, and Mr Bannister added: “Hurricane Dorian was a reminder of the horrific impact of climate change. Thousands of mangroves were destroyed, corals toppled and fresh water aquifers disrupted by contaminants and salt water intrusion.”

Since Dorian, he said The Bahamas’ marine environment has confronted new threats, including stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) which “is devastating marine coral at an alarming rate”. The Category FIve storm, which struck in September 2019, also saw “communities displaced and island economies still struggling to regain their equilibrium.”

Rupert Hayward, the Fund’s vice-chairman, said: “The Bahamas National Protected Area System is our first and most important line of defense in this country’s struggle to protect itself against the destructive force of climate change.

“Within these carefully regulated sanctuaries, marine and terrestrial habitats are allowed to restore themselves with as little human interference as possible. At the same time, they are home to cutting-edge science-based resource management and mitigation efforts that are central to mitigating and reversing climate change impact.”

The Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (BPAF), established by an Act of Parliament, has the legal mandate to finance the management of protected areas and climate resilience. Its scope includes over 121 marine and terrestrial protected areas in addition to the protection of carbon sinks, water resources, wetlands and blue holes, degraded or threatened ecosystems, and areas established for adapting to and mitigating climate change.

The Fund also acts as the Registrar of Protected Areas for The Bahamas. Its primary aim is to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of these areas through initiatives including ecosystem restoration, wildlife protection and scientific research and policy. A conservation trust fund, it supports coral reef and mangroves restoration, plus activities that reduce threats to biodiversity and promote climate resilience.

The Fund has issued more than $1.2m in grant funding and, to generate more resources, has embarked on the campaign to raise $30m and offset the cost of managing protected areas through 2030.