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Bahamian parks system
WELCOME BAHAMAS - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - 2006
Bahamian parks system
Subtropical nature on display
You might not see any of the following natural wonders of The Bahamas during your visit, but there's satisfaction in knowing they are being preserved for future generations:
* thousands of pink flamingos taking flight from a shallow lake in Inagua;
* sea turtles clambering up deserted beaches in the dark of night to lay their eggs in the warm sand;
* untouched subtropical ecosystems: forests, coppices, sand dunes, coral reefs and wetlands;
* mysterious blue holes and underwater caverns, geological relics from the last ice age;
* miles-long caves, home to hordes of indigenous and migratory bats, and to strange new life forms underwater; and
* little-known indigenous fauna, such as hutias (a small rodent-like animal), Bahamian rock iguanas, green turtles and Bahama parrots in their natural habitat - all being rescued from the precipice of extinction.
In The Bahamas, the job of saving these treasure troves of biodiversity falls to the Bahamas National Trust (BNT), manager of the nation's 22 national parks. With them, the Trust has drawn a virtual line in the sand and said, in effect, "this far, but no farther."
On the front line are a few dedicated professionals, backed by environmental organizations, hundreds of volunteers and more than 3,000 members, who provide about 20 per cent of BNT's operational funds. Half of the annual budget comes from the proceeds of a heritage fund while donations, sales and fees, along with a small government grant, account for the rest.
Among the international sponsors are the National Audubon Society, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Rosenstiel School of Marine Science at the University of Miami, the Smithsonian Institution, the United States National Park Service and the American Museum of Natural History. Donors in The Bahamas include the Bacardi Family Foundation, Commonwealth Bank and Family Guardian Insurance.
Flamingos and Exuma Cays
The Trust was created by an act of parliament in 1959 for two specific purposes: to save the West Indian flamingo, a once-mighty flock that had dwindled to a precarious 5,000 birds, and to protect one of the world?s true beauty spots, now known as the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.
Today, the flamingos are back up to a healthy total of between 40,000 and 50,000 birds and the world?s first land and sea park - a no-take fishery zone since 1986 - is a model for underwater parks everywhere.
The system includes parks that range in size from tiny Peterson Cay, a delightful 1.5-acre getaway island off Grand Bahama, to the recently created 286,000-acre (447-square-mile) Andros National Park, which comprises several ecosystems, including parts of the Andros barrier reef, one of the longest and healthiest in the world.
In other countries, national parks are the responsibility of an agency or department of government, but the BNT is different. According to its published mandate, the Trust is "a statutory, non-profit, non-government organization, devoted to the conservation and management of the country's natural and historic resources." It's the only one of its kind in the world.
Unique organization
"The major advantage of being a private organization is that we can raise funding independently and apply it as we see fit, or as the donor wishes," says Lynn Gape, BNT's Director of Education and Communications. "Governments can't do that. If the government does receive a donation for the parks system, it normally has to go into the national treasury."
The ability to raise funds gives the BNT an advantage but it's a two-edged sword, says Gape. When times are tough, or when there is a demand for public funds for other needs - hurricane relief, for example -- it's more difficult than at other times to raise money for conservation.
There has been a change in the way the parks are perceived by both Bahamians and visitors. "In the past we were protecting real estate because of the biodiversity it contained. But in the last few years, we're getting more demand for use," says Eric Carey, Director of Parks and Science Liaison.
This means the BNT has to juggle two somewhat contradictory goals: continuing to preserve important areas for their obvious biological values, and at the same time making them available to Bahamians and visitors, not only today but in the years ahead, when ecotourism will inevitably grow.
This means the BNT officials must wrestle with issues of public access to wilderness areas that hardly crossed their minds before: "We have to think about things like staging areas, visitor centres, parking, fencing, boardwalks, waste disposal and security, all of which require more money," says Carey.
"What we have been doing over the past couple of years is developing management plans and a five-year strategic plan," says Carey. He admits, "We had to play catch-up and, seven or eight years ago, with a lot of consultation, we began working in that direction." The Trust relied heavily on the US Park Service and Parks Canada. Their expertise was especially welcome when it came to protecting fragile wetland areas.
Special wetlands protected
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, (so named because it was signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971) is an intergovernmental treaty to identify and protect "wetlands of international importance." Inagua National Park is the country's only designated wetland so far, but Gape says The Bahamas is putting forward another one, Harrold and Wilson Ponds in New Providence.
Gape says the BNT "more or less stumbled upon" these inland ponds, which are surrounded by housing, light industry and farming. But when they looked more closely, biologists found the ponds were the largest roosting area for herons and egrets on the island. Upwards of 2,000 birds fly in most evenings.
Since 1994, the BNT Ornithology Group has identified more than 100 species in the ponds and nearby areas. This work led eventually to the establishment of the area as a national park in 2002.
Another area of New Providence that became a park that year is the Primeval Forest, a three-acre area of hardwood forest known as blackland coppice. This area was found to have the greatest plant diversity and flora density of all the broadleaf habitats in The Bahamas, including wild orchids, bromeliads and ferns, as well as large limestone caverns.
Luckily, the Primeval Forest was discovered by Pericles Maillis, a past president of the BNT, in 1991, just before it was to become a housing tract. The privately owned property had already been subdivided for lots. Thanks to donations from individual Bahamians and corporations -- and to a land-swap organized by the government - the property was purchased. This was unusual because most new parks are created from government-owned Crown land. Today, boardwalks are planned throughout the park, along with signs to alert visitors to its natural wonders.
Problems in no-take zones;
Another problem for the BNT is poaching in restricted areas. Fishing pressure is increasing throughout The Bahamas, especially on three main commercial species: the Nassau grouper, the queen conch and the spiny lobster. These species occur throughout the Caribbean but they have been sadly depleted in many countries. The conch, a national symbol in The Bahamas, is now extinct in certain parts of its range, Carey says, and is almost extinct in Florida.
Carey thinks the answer to the poaching problem is education. He believes its a mistake to think that successful conservation can be based on a "purist, totally green concept." People who live in no-take zones "have to perceive that there are benefits to conservation, or else you're never going to get their support." Carey and Gape both believe the message is getting across.
At first, the parks system grew and prospered without many people knowing much about it. However, over the past decade, Bahamians have become a lot more aware.
It was residents of Andros - resort owners, bonefishing guides, local government members and community leaders - who promoted the area as the site for a national park.
"The formation of the Andros Conservancy and Trust helped to bring together stakeholders and allowed the BNT access to grass-roots knowledge on ecosystem associations and interactions which were necessary in preparing a proposal for The Bahamas Government," says a release issued by the Trust.
In Abaco, residents took part in "a tremendous campaign" to set up a park for the endangered Bahama parrot, says Gape. A rock song was written and performed, posters were set up and children wrote thousands of letters to the Prime Minister saying, in effect, "we want a park for the parrot." Aside from protecting the parrot's nesting sites, the Abaco National Park "is a very important habitat for a number of different bird species here in The Bahamas, and of tremendous importance for... warblers that migrate from North America each year," says Gape.
Future of the system
As the only private organization in the world with responsibility for a system of national parks, the BNT can point to a long list of successes: the planet's first land and sea park, the rescue of the flamingo and other endangered species from extinction, the protection of hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands, forests and islands, the recruitment of thousands of Bahamians as members and the introduction of environmental education to school curricula.
As to the future, Gape says the BNT is now about halfway to a goal that was set in the early 1980s. Back then, biologists identified more than 50 areas worthy of national park status. But things have changed, says Gape.
"A lot of areas that we chose then might not have to be national parks," she says. "The Department of Fisheries is working hard toward establishing marine fishery reserves and they have done tremendous outreach programs with the people."
Volunteerism remains strong, she says. "Here on New Providence we have anywhere from 50 to 100 people who volunteer on a regular basis.
"In the Exumas, I cannot begin to tell you the number of volunteers. Most of them are yachtspeople who come down and stay for two or three months at a time." Not only do they help out, they contribute financially to the park. With mooring fees and donations, Gape says the Land and Sea Park is "almost self-supporting."
From south to north, the archipelago's 22 national parks are:
Inagua National Park
Now the second-largest park at about 287 square miles, this national park includes almost half of Great Inagua Island. The park includes an area that has been been recognized as a Wetland of International Importance, largely because it is home to the world's largest breeding colony of West Indian flamingos, variously estimated at between 40,000 and 50,000 birds. Lake Windsor is home to a variety of bird life, including tri-coloured herons, great egrets, roseate spoonbills, brown pelicans, white cheeked pintails and West Indian whistling ducks. The whole island is a birdwatcher's paradise. Also on Great Inagua is Union Creek, a 4,940-acre reserve that is a research site for sea turtles, especially the green turtle.
Little Inagua
This 31,360-acre island to the northeast of Great Inagua is a remote and inaccessible island, said to be the largest uninhabited island in the Caribbean area. Because it has never been inhabited, the BNT says its "biodiversity implications and values" are enormous." Water around the island contributes heavily to the marine productivity of the whole of The Bahamas. It's also a nesting site for endangered turtles.
Great Hope House
Marine Farm
Crooked Island is home to two small parks totalling 3.6 acres, Great Hope House and Marine Farm. These compounds include important 18th century loyalist ruins, including a military battery, a main house, summer kitchen, guest house and hurricane structures. Marine Park is less than five miles north of Great Brine Pond and a mile northeast of Landrail Point.
Moriah Harbour Cay National Park
Great Exuma is home to Moriah Harbour Cay National Park, which contains pristine beaches, sand dunes, mangrove creeks and sea grass beds. This is a nesting site for many birds including terns, nighthawks, plovers, oyster catchers and ospreys. The mangroves are nurseries for crabs, crawfish, conch, grey snappers, yellowtails and groupers. Added to the system in 2002, Moriah Harbour Cay is also important as a balanced, complete ecosystem where palmettos, buttonwoods, bay cedar, sea oats and other flora work in concert, providing stability and nutrients to the ecosystem.
Conception Island
Conception Island is an untouched subtropical cay, about 15 miles from Rum Cay in the central Bahamas. Visitors are told to take nothing but memories and leave nothing but footprints. It's a circle of sand and limestone cliffs, accessible only by private boat. About three miles long and wide, Conception encloses a lagoon. Columbus is said to have made his second stop in the New World here, calling it Santa Maria de la Concepcion. Under the BNT's protection since 1964, Conception Island is a sanctuary for many migratory birds and is the largest nesting site for tropicbirds in The Bahamas. Green and Hawksbill turtles also use the island's beaches to nest.
Exuma Cays
Land and Sea Park
The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is the first of its kind in the world and the oldest park in the Bahamian system, having been created in 1959. It's an important sanctuary for bird life and home to several endangered species of land animals, including the hutia, once thought to be extinct, and rock iguanas. In 1986, the park became the first no-take marine reserve in the Caribbean area, protecting conch, grouper and crawfish that migrate in their millions to fishing areas outside the park.
Central Andros
National Park
Andros, largest island in the archipelago, is home to Central Andros National Park, which contains four specific areas of conservation, encompassing blue holes, land crab habitats, a section of the barrier reef, pine forest, a part of the Andros freshwater lens and large areas of mangrove and intertidal wetlands. Among the protected ecosystems are patch reefs, sea grass beds, sand flats, creeks, bights and mangrove forests. This park was added to the system in 2002, largely as the result of action by the people of Andros.
The Retreat
Harrold and Wilson Ponds
Bonefish Pond Primeval Forest
New Providence now has four national park areas: The Retreat on Village Rd in Nassau, administrative headquarters and educational centre of the BNT; Harrold and Wilson Ponds in the south-central part of the island, a 250-acre reserve that is home to more than 100 avian species; Bonefish Pond, nearly 1,300 acres, which is an important marine nursery on the southern coast, and a three-acre area called The Primeval Forest, located in the southwest that includes dramatic sinkholes, limestone caverns and undisturbed old-growth stands of evergreen tropical hardwoods known as blackland coppice. The last three parks were created in 2002, while The Retreat was set aside in 1977.
Abaco National Park
Pelican Cays Land and Sea Park
Abaco National Park, established in 1994, is located at the southern end of the main island. Comprising 20,500 acres, it is a reserve established largely for a 5,000-acre stand of forest that is home to the endangered Bahama parrot. One of the problems here is controlling the proliferation of feral cats that prey on the ground-nesting birds. Also in Abaco is the Pelican Cays Land and Sea Park, eight miles north of Cherokee Sound, a 2,100-acre site similar in administration to the Exuma Land and Sea Park. It contains undersea caves and large coral reefs. Two small reserves, two-acre Black Sound in northern Abaco and 11-acre Tilloo Cay Reserve in the south, are important avian habitats, nesting sites and mangrove wetlands.
Peterson Cay
Rand Nature Centre
Lucayan National Park
At 1.5 acres, Peterson Cay National Park, off the lee shore of Grand Bahama, is the smallest park in the collection and one of the most heavily used. It is one of the island?s favourite day-trip spots, with great snorkelling over pristine corals. Grand Bahama is also home to the 100-acre Rand Nature Centre, acquired by the BNT in 1992. Like The Retreat on New Providence, the Rand Centre is located in a city, Freeport, with resident bird life and extensive trails through coppices and pine barrens. Lucayan National Park, east of Freeport, is a 40-acre wonderland of caves and underwater caverns. It boasts raised wooden boardwalks for visitors and an entrance to the longest underwater cave system in the world, with more than six miles already charted.
Walker's Cay National Park
Walker's Cay, part of the Abacos, is the northernmost island in The Bahamas. It is protected by a barrier reef, renowned for its underwater cathedrals, with visibility up to 100 feet. The sea around this 3,840-acre park is teeming with life including schools of pompano and amberjack as well as large sharks, barracudas, turtles and eagle rays, making it a diver's Mecca.
The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is so beautiful it defies description. Eric Carey, Director of Parks and Science Liaison at The Bahamas National Trust says the cays are "incredible gems, with the deep blue Exuma Sound, which is an extension of the Atlantic Ocean on one side and a thousand colours of light blue, greens, almost yellowish looking water because of the beautiful golden sand underneath..." Another observer, and one who would know, said the Exumas in 1931 were unquestionably "one of the outstanding creations of nature... the clearest water I have ever seen." The writer in this case was Tolstoy, not Count Lyoff Nikolayevitch Tolstoy, who wrote War and Peace, but his grandson, Colonel Ilia Tolstoy, who was in his day a world-renowned traveller, photographer and naturalist.
But when Tolstoy returned to the area after the Second World War, he was shocked. The indestructible water still sparkled in the warm Bahamian sun but the wildlife had been sadly decimated.
He found dead iguanas with 22-calibre bullet holes in them; corals and fish were under heavy pressure from recreational and commercial fishing. Conch, once large and plentiful, were small and few, and thriving bird populations had been decimated, the result of year-round hunting with no bag limits. Looking at the devastation, Tolstoy later wrote that he saw "the ghosts of Passenger Pigeons in the air."
So it was in the early 1950s that he and many others began talking about creating a protected reserve where the land and marine resources could regenerate in safety. Some of those were Arthur Vernay, Suydam Cutting and Colonel F A Franklyn, all members of the Society for the Protection of the Flamingo in The Bahamas; Richard H Pough of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Dr F G Walton Smith, Director of the Marine Laboratory at the University of Miami.
At about the same time in the 1950s, Prof Ray Carleton, a zoologist with Columbia University, approached the Bahamian government with the then-novel idea of creating an underwater park. When Tolstoy and Carleton met, they decided to combine their efforts, convincing the Colonial Government to open up an area in The Exumas for a year of scientific study. This was financed in part by the New York Zoological Society.
It was a rigorous study. Volunteers cut narrow paths on the larger cays so that scientists could study the area's plants and animals, some of which were endangered: iguana, hutia, the curly tailed lizard the white crowned pigeon. Building on existing work, they catalogued the living resources not only of the cays but of the shallow sea around them, including corals, fishes, turtles, crustacians and mollusks.
Their report called on the government to "ensure the perpetuity of those things that people come to see in The Bahamas, as well as to assure a lasting supply of those natural resources that are so necessary for the livelihood of Bahamians themselves." The government quickly passed legislation to establish the world's first land and sea park.
Only about five per cent (about nine square miles) of the total area of the park (176 square miles) is land. The rest is seabed covered by the warm Atlantic Ocean. It's located in the northern Exumas, a little north of dead centre in the archipelago, extending from Conch Cut in the south to Way Cay Cut in the north, a stretch of 22 miles. The park is eight miles wide, claiming the shallow waters of the Great Bahama Bank to the west and extending to the edge of the Exuma Sound to the east.
There are nine large cays, 50 smaller ones and innumerable islets and rocks in the tract. Three of the four largest cays - Shroud, Hawksbill and Waderick Wells (site of the park office) - are leased to the BNT and five others are privately owned: Cistern Cay, Soldier Cay, O?Brien's Cay, Bell Island and Little Bell Island.
Another cay, Hall's Pond, was privately owned by notorious Czech financier Viktor Kozeny. Kozeny created a furor when he put heavy construction machinery on the island and began building roads. In 1999, the government of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham ordered Kozeny to stop and to restore the island to its original condition. Later, the government issued a "notice of possession," reclaiming Hall's Pond for the park.
Today, the cay is slowly regenerating.
Conservationists note that national parks like the Land and Sea Park, which set aside and protect entire ecosystems, are especially important in The Bahamas where the underwater world is as fragile as it is complex and beautiful.
Few realize, for example, how essential are coral reefs, not only to countries such as The Bahamas that possess them, but to the world at large - comparable in importance to rainforests, say scientists.
Reefs are the reason the Bahama Islands exist, says marine biologist Thomas McGrath, who spoke with the Bahamas Handbook. in 2001. "They are the only reason these islands exist."
As McGrath explained, The Bahamas islands are made entirely of calcium carbonate, of which up to 95 per cent is produced in one way or another by the reefs. The reefs are also the centre of marine life, including conch, grouper and crawfish, which are seafood staples in The Bahamas.
Commercial fishing, which employs about 9,500 Bahamians, contributes some $200 million or more to the national economy. And reef-based tourism, including diving and snorkelling, contributes even more.
As Lynn Holowesko, former Bahamas Ambassador for the Environment, and also a former president of The Bahamas National Trust, put it, "It is the environment that brings visitors and investors to our shores. It is the mother hen that lays the golden egg of tourism."
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