The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Education Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Programme held a summer camp at Kamalame Cay, for twenty-two students aged eight to fourteen years from North Andros.

The students participating in the annual Kamalame Cay Sea Camp were engaged in an immersive outdoor learning experience, allowing them to embrace the natural environment while having fun. An outdoor classroom is used as a teaching tool, helping students to understand the value of protecting and caring for the ocean.

Attendees had a chance to understand the critical roles that mangroves and coral reefs play in the Bahamian environment, especially for fisheries, tourism, and shoreline protection. Presentations about local sea creatures were followed by snorkels and boat expeditions where students were able to identify the marine areas and organisms they learned about during presentations.

Students also learned about threats facing our marine environment including warming waters that especially affect our fragile Bahamian coral reefs.

A key component of Sea Camp is teaching children practical water skills that inspire them to be environmental stewards. Students learned how to manoeuvre in the outdoor environment as they snorkelled through mangroves and corals, learning about the value of the underwater world around them.

Dwayne Munnings, age ten, said: “I had a lot of fun learning about the mangroves and fish; and I found lots of interesting things in the ocean.”

Stevenique Johnson, age 10, said she enjoyed snorkelling with others and learning about new types of fish she had never seen before. She said: “When we went into the mangroves I didn’t know there were so many fish that live there, I found a lot of interesting things that my teacher told me all about.”

Heather Brockbank, BREEF outreach assistant, said her goal was to ensure students get the opportunity to interact with our marine environment.

She said: “We really like to engage kids from other islands, we want them to snorkel and see what’s under the water and feel comfortable while they are doing it.

“If young people are exposed to the environment they will care more about it and spread the word, not only to their parents but to the community, and use that opportunity to make a difference for the future.”

Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, BREEF executive director, said: “Ninety-five percent of the territory of The Bahamas is underwater. There is such a tremendous opportunity to use the underwater world as a living classroom and expose children to career opportunities connected with the ocean.”