8 minute read
Taking Root
BTT joins forces with Bahamian partners and local communities to restore and conserve the mangroves of The Bahamas.
By Chris Hunt and Staff Reports
An alliance of conservation groups in The Bahamas is working to restore a mangrove ecosystem that was wiped out by Hurricane Dorian, a massive Category 5 storm and the largest to ever make landfall in the Atlantic.
The human toll from Dorian was heartbreaking—74 Bahamians were confirmed dead and almost 250 people remain missing and are presumed dead—and the long-term ecological damage to the region and its surrounding islands and cays is striking. The storm boasted sustained winds of 185 miles per hour and its slow path across the region denuded and killed mangroves across nearly 70 square miles. Today, islands that were once lush and green thanks to mangrove forests are still mostly barren. Skeletal trunks and limbs poke up from the sand, the reminders of what once was.
Scientists agree that, in time, mangroves will eventually find their way back to these sandy islands, though the timeline for regeneration will be longer than in the aftermath of any previous storm. The important difference is the scale at which mature, propagule-producing trees and their seed banks were lost. And the consensus is that the best response is a science-based effort to give nature a helping hand to not only accelerate recovery but also reduce threats to the system in the intervening years arising from coastal erosion and other degradation to the environment.
BTT was among the first organizations on the seascape to provide that help when it launched the Bahamas Mangrove Restoration Project soon after Dorian’s winds had subsided. Thus far, with the help of Bahamas National Trust (BNT), Friends of the Environment, corporate partner MANG, local fishing guides and lodges, students, community volunteers and other stakeholders, the project has planted 55,000 seedlings.
Early planting efforts have focused on areas where mangroves are most likely to provide the intended “kick-start.” These areas, which once supported tall forests of “fringing” red mangroves prior to Dorian, have the soil nutrients to support larger trees, and these larger mangroves produce more propagules (seeds) that will help repopulate surrounding areas that lost their mangroves to the storm four years ago.
“Mangroves are so critical to the health of marine ecosystems across The Bahamas,” said BTT President and CEO Jim McDuffie. “They are an essential part of the shallow water environment that makes The Bahamas a premiere destination globally for flats fishing, while also serving as nursery and spawning habitats for a majority of the country’s valuable commercial fisheries. They also provide many other benefits to The Bahamas, not least of which is the promise of protecting coastal communities during a time when our climate is changing so dramatically.”
Ultimately, success in the project will depend on achieving restoration at the right scale. One way to get there is through strategic plantings of seedlings in the right locations and with the right densities to accelerate recovery in specific locations. Another way is to plant even larger numbers of mangrove propagules through large-scale distribution down creek systems and by aerial drops. BTT and its partners are embracing both methods as necessary prescriptions in The Bahamas. Success will also require organizational collaboration at scale.
On Earth Day 2023, BTT, Waterkeepers Bahamas (WKB), and the Perry Institute for Marine Science (PIMS) announced the formation of the Bahamas Mangrove Alliance (BMA), with generous seed funding from the Moore Bahamas Foundation and Louis Bacon Foundation. The announcement followed several months of planning and underscored a commitment that each had made to protect and restore mangroves on Grand Bahama, Abaco, and across The Bahamas.
National media carried the news of how “three influential conservation organizations” had established a new multi-sector coalition to focus on mangrove protection and restoration, research, community outreach, advocacy, and raising awareness through education.
“After Dorian, our three organizations were first on the ground to assess damage, the first to strike restoration plans, and the first to begin planting,” said BTT President and CEO Jim McDuffie. “It was obvious to all of us how immense this job was going to be, and that we could be more successful and deliver greater conservation outcomes by working together. The emerging BMA gives us the best means of coordination and the best platform to do just that.”
McDuffie said the BMA would help coordinate this effort—the largest mangrove restoration project in Bahamas history—and other mangrove advocacy and conservation efforts under a single umbrella, including nonprofits organizations, national park and fisheries managers, island communities, higher education institutions, and sustainable businesses. And where possible, the BMA will also engage with The Bahamas Government on national and international priorities tied to mangrove health.
Waterkeepers Bahamas, a member of the global Waterkeeper Alliance, has been on the front lines of advocacy and action benefitting the environment of the Clifton and Western Bays, Grand Bahama and Bimini. WKB Executive Director Rashema Ingraham, a native of Freeport who has an impressive pedigree to legendary fishing guides in the region, played an important role in framing the BMA’s charter and mission.
“The BMA recognizes the importance of mangroves to the ‘Blue Economy’ of The Bahamas,” said Ingraham. “Mangroves contribute to the sustainability of fisheries, which are vital for the local fishing economy. Additionally, mangrove habitats attract tourists interested in activities like flats fishing. By protecting and restoring mangroves, the BMA supports economic opportunities tied to the coastal and marine environment.”
Ingraham explained that WKB was excited to be partnering with regionally recognized organizations like PIMS and BTT, saying that together the groups would be able to broaden the reach and scope of their individual efforts, thereby ensuring the conservation of mangrove forests.
WKB has conducted several mangrove workshops and activities targeting schools and students over recent years. An important aspect of amplifying reach and scope will be to expand engagement by community members in restoration activities and, later, in outreach to protect and conserve mangroves all over the country. The successful joint planting event on Earth Day demonstrated the power of the approach as more than 100 volunteers participated, including fishing guides and lodge staff, school students, representatives from the University of The Bahamas, community volunteers, corporate partners, and government officials. Together the volunteers planted 3,200 mangroves along Rocky Creek in East Grand Bahama.
The BMA and its member organizations are using the best science available to direct restoration work, with scientists from BTT and the Perry Institute for Marine Science joining forces.
PIMS Director Dr. Craig Dahlgren said his organization has worked on mangrove restoration efforts since the mid-1990s, and it will serve in a leadership role in conducting research and monitoring necessary to both measure success in the current project and frame new protocols for mangrove restoration.
Using PIMS’ science and mapping capability, Dahlgren said the alliance can monitor the progress of the restoration efforts to see if the mangroves are returning and if the new plantings can function as fish nurseries.
“We’re using drones and remote sensing to create some very detailed maps that show where the restoration is most needed,” Dahlgren said. And, predictably, the immediate need is most pronounced on Grand Bahama and Abaco, where Dorian wiped out the vast majority of the region’s mangroves.
There are many other places in The Bahamas where mangrove restoration is needed, and not just in the paths of devastating hurricanes. Once the work on Grand Bahama and Abaco is at a point where it can move forward without constant monitoring, the BMA plans to start tackling some of these other areas. They include sites where mangroves have been impacted by everything from half-a-century-old logging roads to abandoned salt-pen operations to more pronounced coastal development issues that are a constant challenge. At the same time, the BMA intends to also engage deeply with Government on new policy measures to prevent loss and conserve mangroves at a country-wide scale.
“Mangroves on Grand Bahama and Abaco need to be restored,” McDuffie said. “And wetlands and mangrove systems throughout The Bahamas need to be protected. BTT and our BMA partners share a commitment and fierce determination to get it done.”
Chris Hunt is an award-winning freelance journalist and author and an avid fly fisher based in Idaho and Florida. He writes frequently about conservation, fly fishing and travel. His most recent book, The Little Black Book of Fly Fishing, is available online and at finer bookstores.
