Beneath the Waves and shark conservation in The Bahamas
Marine biologist Melissa Cristina Márquez writes about shark conservation organisation Beneath the Waves and the research they are doing in The Bahamas. According to Dr. Austin Gallagher, the organisation’s Chief Scientist, “There are few places worldwide that are as important to sharks than the Bahamas.” In 2018, Beneath the Waves launched one …
Coral Vita: Coral farming in The Bahamas
Gator Halpern, UN Environment’s 2018 Young Champion of the Earth for Latin America and the Caribbean, is working with his company Coral Vita to build the world’s first commercial land-based coral farm, in The Bahamas. Coral Vita’s approach differs from most coral restoration projects in that it uses land-based coral …
Coral reefs worth billions to the Caribbean tourism industry
According to a recent study by the Nature Conservancy, coral reefs contribute over US$7.9 billion annually to the Caribbean economy through tourism. This represents 23% of all tourism expenditures and more than 10% of the region’s GDP. The study, which was supported by JetBlue, the World Travel and Tourism Council, …
FAO workshop to help Caribbean aquaponics farmers improve market access
This week in Barbados, the FAO will be holding a workshop aimed at helping aquaponics farmers from around the Caribbean build their businesses sustainably: Helping Caribbean aquaponics farmers learn and use efficient business practices that can increase their market access and support more sustainable food production in the region is …
Green Antilles link roundup: December 9, 2018
Bahamas committed to marine protection goals — The Bahamas remains committed to setting aside 20 percent of its territorial waters as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by 2020, a Cabinet minister has confirmed. … “This would represent 43 newly-proposed marine protected areas, covering more than 8.1m acres of clear, blue ocean.” Caribbean urged …
Caribbean scientists receive training in endangered species assessment
Scientists from six Caribbean countries recently participated in a training course in The Bahamas on how to assess potentially threatened and endangered species for classification on the IUCN Red List: Fourteen Bahamian and eight Caribbean experts took part in a week of training in Nassau on how to assess threatened …
Pessimism about The Bahamas’ renewable energy targets
The Bahamas has set a target of producing 30% of its energy needs from sustainable sources by the year 2030. However, the Bahamas Tribune reports that there are doubts about whether that goal is feasible: The Bahamas “is never going to make” the National Energy Policy’s (NEP) goals, providers warned …