Earth Day 2025
Let’s use our power to protect our planet and our future
By Our Islands, Our Future
THIS Earth Day, under the global theme “Our Power, Our Planet,” the Our Islands, Our Future (OIOF) coalition is calling on Bahamian leaders to take the next bold step in climate responsibility: enact a permanent ban on oil drilling in The Bahamas.
We commend the government of The Bahamas for its decision last December to join a growing bloc of nations supporting the creation of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, a significant milestone in our country’s climate diplomacy. The Treaty initiative seeks
to halt the global expansion of fossil fuels, phase out existing production, and equitably fast-track the transition to renewable energy. This kind of leadership is not just admirable for a nation as vulnerable as The Bahamas; it’s essential. But now is the time to go further.
Joining the Treaty movement signals our position on the global stage. A permanent legislative ban on oil drilling in Bahamian waters will show our position at home.
As a coalition that includes environmental NGOs, fishing guides, tourism operators, young climate advocates, and everyday Bahamians, OIOF has consistently
argued that oil exploration poses unacceptable risks to our country. Any profits would benefit foreign companies rather than The Bahamas. A spill, even a small one, would be catastrophic to our marine ecosystems, coastal communities, and our tourism-driven economy. Oil has no place in our clean, blue brand and certainly no place in our waters. The Bahamian people agree.
In a national poll commissioned by OIOF, an overwhelming 86% of respondents supported a ban on oil drilling. That’s not just a majority, that’s a mandate. Support was strong across political lines, income levels, and
islands. Bahamians want to protect what makes this country special: our pristine seas, vibrant reefs, and cultural connection to the ocean.
We often hear that small island nations like ours don’t have power in the climate fight. But Earth Day 2025 reminds us of the truth: Our Power, Our Planet. We do have power, the power of moral leadership, the power of example, and the power to choose a sustainable path forward. The Bahamas is already showing signs of that power. Our decision to support the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty aligns us with a growing wave of island nations and climate-vulnerable
countries pushing for a global shift away from fossil fuels. By banning oil drilling, we would go from participant to pioneer.
This would also signal to world investors, philanthropists, and clean energy allies that The Bahamas is serious about building a blue-green future. A future where solar power replaces diesel, where young people work in climate-resilient industries, and where our natural environment is preserved not just for today’s economy, but for generations to come.
We understand that governments face competing pressures. But protecting the environment isn’t just about conservation, it’s
about economic security, public health, and national resilience. Oil drilling is incompatible with those goals.
So this Earth Day, we implore our leaders to transform words into action. To build on the momentum of the Treaty. To listen to the Bahamian people. And to send the clearest possible message to the world:
The Bahamas is closed to oil drilling. Forever.
Our Islands, Our Future is a coalition of over 150 businesses, environmental groups, tourism advocates, and other Bahamian and international leaders determined to stop dirty, dangerous offshore oil drilling in The Bahamas.
The power to protect our environment is in our hands
By: The Bahamas Mangrove Alliance
EVERY year on April 22, the world pauses to celebrate Earth Day –a call to action and a moment to reflect on the shared responsibility we all have in protecting our planet. While it is a powerful global moment of unity, in The Bahamas, these celebrations continue with numerous organisations doing their part to highlight the importance of Bahamian ecosystems, with an understanding that the power to protect our environment lies in our hands. On this day, we also celebrate the anniversary of a national collaboration for the protection and restoration of mangrove forests in The Bahamas, through the formation of the Bahamas Mangrove Alliance.
Established on Earth Day, the Bahamas Mangrove Alliance (the “Alliance”) is comprised of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT), Waterkeepers Bahamas (WKB), Perry Institute for Marine Science (PIMS), Friends of the Environment (FRIENDS) and Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI). The Alliance was founded in response to the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. Since its inception, the Alliance has already made a measurable impact, restoring over 300,000 mangroves across more than 100 sites, totaling more than 300 acres, proving that restoration is possible when local voices lead, science guides and shared purpose fuels the
journey. This year’s global Earth Day theme, “Our Power, Our Planet,” focuses primarily on renewable energy. However, while clean energy solutions are critical to global climate goals, we must continuously
remember the energy we harness as communities, and that when we come together to protect what matters, it serves as a broader call to action. By embracing our collective responsibilities, ecosystems like mangroves – which are valuable to
The Bahamas by serving as nurseries for fish, protection from storms, and assisting in the fight against Climate Change through carbon storage – will thrive.
So, this Earth Day, as we celebrate “Our Power, Our Planet”, the
Bahamas Mangrove Alliance also invites us to celebrate the natural role that mangroves have in our communities, and to join with organisations and individuals who are using their power to protect and restore mangroves, for a more
sustainable future for The Bahamas. To learn more about how you can support or join the Bahamas Mangrove Alliance, visit bahamasmangrovealliance.org or email info@ bahamasmangrovealliance.org.
Take advantage of free outdoor activities on National Parks Day
THE Bahamas National Trust (BNT) is welcoming the public to join them inside national parks across The Bahamas for free outdoor activities on National Parks Day - Saturday, April 26.
Held in celebration of Earth Day, National Parks Day offers the opportunity to explore your local park and experience excitement within these unique outdoor spaces, free of charge.
Visitors can participate in a range of adventures in nature - from birdwatching, guided tours, and hiking to yoga, bush tea demonstrations, and environmental games.
In its seventh National Parks Day, the BNT is providing activities at eight locations in total:
The Retreat Garden and Primeval Forest in New Providence; the Rand Nature Centre in Grand Bahama; the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve in Eleuthera; the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park in Exuma; Inagua National Park in Inagua; Abaco National Park in Abaco; and Blue Holes National Park in Andros.
In total, the BNT manages 33 national parks encompassing more than 2.2 million acres of land and sea. These protected areas safeguard Bahamian biodiversity and preserve the unique natural beauty of The Bahamas.
The organisation hosts National Parks Day to encourage connectivity between people and nature, and to highlight
the many ways national parks benefit Bahamians and visitors. “It’s impossible to step into a national park and not be inspired and awed,” said Lakeshia Anderson Rolle, BNT executive director. “We
host National Parks Day in celebration of Earth Day as a way of bridging the gap between people and nature. Our desire is for Bahamians to get outside, experience these spaces firsthand, and
spark a connection to our natural world. We want Bahamians to see these incredible natural spaces as theirs to protect and enjoy.”
One of the BNT’s current goals is enhancing
infrastructure in national parks across The Bahamas to increase accessibility and recreational programs, providing more opportunities outside of days like National Parks Day for visitors to enjoy the benefits of their parks. For information on participating parks and activities during National Parks Day, follow the BNT on social media. To learn more about the role the BNT plays in managing terrestrial and marine national parks, conserving wildlife, and informing environmental policy, please visit its website: www.bnt.bs and follow/subscribe to its various social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
NATIONAL Parks Day offers the opportunity to explore your local park and experience excitement within these unique outdoor spaces, free of charge.
THE Walt Disney Company’s commitment to protecting the natural beauty of The Bahamas spans decades. First established on Earth Day, April 22,1995, the Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) supports local organizations helping to protect wildlife and connect people with nature. To date, DCF grants have helped protect more than 1,000 species of wildlife across half the countries in the world and all five oceans.
Since its launch, the fund has provided more than 80 grants totaling over $6.5 million to support conservation efforts in The Bahamas. Among 24 projects in The Bahamas that have received grant funding so far, Disney’s support of the Perry Institute for Marine Science (PIMS) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have strengthened local ecosystems and marine habitats.
In celebration of Earth Day and the Disney Conservation Fund’s 30th
anniversary, here’s a look at how Disney is doing its part to support Bahamian organizations in caring for marine life and their habitats to support a healthier planet.
Coral Conservation
Since 2000, DCF has supported projects at PIMS that aim to protect Bahamian reefs, preserve native fish populations, restore mangroves, create marine reserves and support the nation’s growing Blue Economy.
By studying coral, tending to underwater coral nurseries and collaborating on reef rehabilitation techniques with experts across the Caribbean, several threatened coral species have been preserved.
With Disney’s support, PIMS has further protected ocean ecosystems by working with key stakeholders like fishers, scientists and the Bahamian government to develop fishery policies aimed at
Disney celebrates to conservation in
conserving Bahamian marine resources, like the Nassau Grouper and the parrotfish.
This work adds to Disney’s own ongoing efforts to restore coral reefs in
The Bahamas. For example, to help protect reefs from excess algae growth, the Disney team relocates native long-spined sea urchins to the reefs to graze on algae, restoring balance to the ecosystem and encouraging new corals to grow.
Strengthening Coastal Ecosystems
In South Eleuthera, Disney supports The Nature Conservancy’s work to protect and restore vital coastal ecosystems, like coral reefs and mangroves, which in turn help to reduce flood risk and improve water quality for Bahamians.
The Bahamas is home to a significant number of the Earth’s mangroves and coral reefs, which work in harmony to protect each other and the islands themselves. By preventing
DISNEY Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point.
Photo: Kent Phillips/Disney Cruise Line
A PIMS staff member conducts a photogrammetry survey off New Providence to help track reef growth and coral health over time.
Photo: Perry Institute for Marine Science
PIMS interns learn to care for and clean a coral nursery off New Providence. Photo: Perry Institute for Marine Science
long-standing commitment The Bahamas
preventing erosion from the shore and limiting sediment that reaches coral reefs, mangroves protect these delicate ecosystems, preserve water quality, and reduce storm surge and flooding on the islands.
The Bahamas Coral Innovation Hub is a joint effort by TNC, the Cape Eleuthera Institute, and PIMS to advance innovative coral research, restoration, and monitoring. The Hub, which is located on Eleuthera, is working to restore degraded coral reefs and protect climate-resilient corals while working with communities to promote lasting impact. A TNC diver conducts coral monitoring in South Eleuthera.
Hiring Bahamian Experts
In addition to millions in grant funding to support two dozen local conservation projects, Disney has hired its own
conservation and sustainability experts from The Bahamas to lead this work at Disney Cruise Line’s two island destinations: Disney Castaway Cay and Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point.
Brandon Bowe of Grand Bahama and Eraise Thompson from Freeport joined the Disney Cruise Line team as Island Environmental Managers at Castaway Cay, while Khadija Fraser
of Nassau joined the team at Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. They are responsible for coordinating a wide range of sustainability and waste management initiatives while ensuring operations
Disney Cruise Line in The Bahamas
For more than 25 years, Disney has introduced countless families to the beauty and spirit of The Bahamas while making a significant economic impact and demonstrating a strong commitment to the environment and community. The majority of cruises offered by Disney Cruise Line have at least one stop in The Bahamas, and all six of its ships are registered in The Bahamas. Disney Cruise Line operations contribute more than $70 million toward The Bahamas gross domestic product annually. Disney Cruise Line continues to expand with a fleet of six ships and seven more planned by 2031. Disney Cruise Line’s new island destination, Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point in Eleuthera, opened in June 2024
comply with environmental regulations.
Meanwhile, Bahamian conservationists and Nassau natives Bradley Watson and Pachancia Knowles have brought their expertise to Disney’s ongoing conservation and sustainability initiatives at Disney Lookout
Cay at Lighthouse Point in Eleuthera. From a bird monitoring and tracking program to a groundbreaking land crab study, the team has been working for many years to create a one-of-a-kind Disney destination where nature can continue to thrive.
Photo: Cut Canvas/Kip Evans
Earth Day is important for us all - but perhaps it is most important for the next generation, who will inherit the Earth the rest of us leave behind.
The University of The Bahamas has been running a class called “Nature Writing”, a creative nonfiction class - and some of those students have been writing about the natural environment, climate change and more.
Here are some of their thoughts:
To The Ancient Almond Tree in My Great-Grandmothers Front Yard
– Troya Rolle
‘The meek shall UNIVERSITY OF THE BAHAMAS’ ‘NATURE WRITING’ STUDENTS WRITE
You’ve always stood tall. You’ve always braced yourself against the storms. You have withstood the hurricanes, frigid cold fronts, the relentless summer heat. You’ve lost leaves and limbs, and you’ve gained them back tenfold. You’ve flowered and bloomed continuously year after year.
I admire you. I want to be like you. I want to be strong. I want to be sturdy and steady and firm. I want to learn from you - I want you to teach me.
As a young girl, I ate your fruit. While consuming it, I wished and prayed to grow into something perfect like you.
Something to be admired and desired. Something to be wanted and yet so individually strong; to never need anything from anyone. To
at BoneFish Pond - Jasmine Anderson and Leyhannah Rolle, UB creative writers.
UB students who have been writing about the natural environment, climate change and other issues.
A CATERPILLAR at Primeval Forest.
Photo: Megan Obregon
inherit the earth’
ABOUT THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE AND MORE
FROM PAGE 8
provide for myself the way you manage to, only needing light, laughter and water. Only needing wind and sky and nothing more.
Nothing material, nothing synthetic, nothing fake.
You’re beautiful, you’re vibrant, your harmony is forever sacred to me. I have always wanted to be just like you.
I See Nature and the Divine – Sage Duncanson
I see nature, does that mean I can see the divine?
I see no hands nor fingers, yet lines are etched into the bark of the West Indian Mahogany trees. And parables are written in the waves of the ocean, for men in their boats to read.
A love song is sung by the pigeons and humming birds in the morning: “How great is our world, sunflowers light the green expanse like stars, grasshoppers have never jumped so high, singpraises to our Lord.”
The potcakes that travel roadside, frail ribs and bones forever panting their tune: “Lord have mercy upon us, send those who walk on their hind legs to quench our thirst and satisfy our hunger, then we will bow to them.”
The aristocrats of the forest dragging their bellies so full, in their sophisticated black and white stripes lean back and say “Thank you lord for the guava, guinep, mangoes, pears, scarlet
plums and cherries, for the sweet juicy berries and the blue barrels of smelly gold and man’s flaws.” The song of the raccoons.
But what will I sing? What secrets of the divine will the marks in my skin reveal?
LETTER TO CORAL
– Megan Obregon
So small, so overlooked. People only see you as decorations for a fish tank, and some don’t even know you’re an animal.
Enwrapped around your limestone skeleton are thousands of microscopic signs of lifemouths, tentacles, stingers - but people don’t care to look that closely, focused on the more eye-catching fish whose life you sustain. They trample on you and destroy you with their anchors, taking you for granted like they do the non-sentient rocks. But with your highlighter-bright colours and carefully sculpted bodies, how can they see you as just rocks?
LICHEN Megan Obregon
Spots of green and white
NATURE Writing professor Helen Klonaris.
UB students at Bonefish Pond and in Primeval Forest (top).
Photo: Kandice Hanna
MUSHROOMS at Primeval Forest.
PARTICIPANTS enjoy the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation’s two-day Extreme Hangout Bahamas event.
Youth dive into coral conservation at BREEF’s 2025 Extreme Hangout Bahamas
UNDER the theme, “Coral Connections: Science, Climate, Solutions & Sustainability” the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF) held a two-day Extreme Hangout Bahamas event.
Minister of Education Glenys HannaMartin, and Director of Education Dominique McCartney-Russell, joined the students at Goodman’s Bay.
The second day was a more formal indoor
This, the second annual youth climate action summit held on April 3–4, brought together 50 students from 10 schools from New Providence, Eleuthera, and Abaco for an experience focused on coral reef protection, climate resilience, and sustainable solutions for The Bahamas’ marine environment. The first day was held at Goodman’s Bay beach, where students rotated through engaging, hands-on activities such as conch anatomy using live specimens, snorkeling and fish identification, sustainable art projects, and interactive games centered around marine conservation. Students learned about water safety and the critical role coral reefs play in sustaining life in The Bahamas.
workshop at the New Providence Community Centre on Blake Road.
Participants dove deeper into issues like coral bleaching, sea level rise, oil drilling and food security through interactive panel discussions and youth-led debates. Students were also given the opportunity to share their views about oil drilling in The Bahamas and participated in a polling exercise coordinated by Waterkeepers Bahamas/ BREEF/Our Islands Our Future.
Featured speakers included Samantha Ramirez, Bahamas Sustainable Development
Goals Youth Ambassador in the Office of the Prime Minister; Sub-Lieutenant Wellington Ramsey, Royal Bahamas Defence Force; Farah Flowers, BREEF Bahamas Environment Steward Scholar; Rashema Ingraham, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust and Tanique Evans, Head Girl at Akhepran International Academy.
The session was moderated by Steffon Evans, deputy executive director of the Organisation for Responsible Governance.
“I would like more students to have the experience I had at this Extreme Hangout.”
“I enjoyed this event from the start. I enjoyed snorkeling the most because it also made me more comfortable in the water and I liked learning about the Queen Conch too,” said 15-year-old Le-Andre Playdle from Patrick J Bethel High School in Abaco.
And 17-year-old Haile Foreste, from Akhepran International Academy, said: “I loved it! I’d give it a 10 out of 10. It was a wonderful experience
11-year-old Kaelyn Mackey, from Harbour Island Green School, said: “I enjoyed snorkelling and learning about conch and sustainable fishing practices.
because we were able to express ourselves and connect with the sea on a different level and for many of us it was our first time.”
BREEF thanked The Moore Bahamas Foundation, Primat Foundation, The Sean Connery Foundation, Atlantis Blue Project Foundation, and Builders Initiative for their support of the Extreme Hangout Bahamas event.
To learn more about BREEF’s upcoming events, programmes and tools for teachers and students follow BREEF on social media at BREEF242.
