The Nature Conservancy (TNC) commemorated 20 years of work in The Bahamas. An event held at the Balmoral Club on 15th March under the theme ‘Celebrating 20 Years of Conservation, Collaboration and Community’, gathered key stakeholders, government agencies and partners to express appreciation and to highlight the milestones and contributions of the Conservancy.
In bringing congratulatory remarks, the Hon. Vaughn Miller, Minister of The Environment and Natural Resources stated, “TNC has been a driving force in our country, and has been integral in expanding and effectively managing the Bahamas National Protected Areas System, advancing sustainable fisheries management policy and practice, restoring and conserving coral reef ecosystems, and most recently to promoting nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation.”
Throughout its history, TNC has empowered a number of local community groups and helped to advance national priorities in marine management, sustainable fisheries, coral & mangrove ecosystem restoration and pine forest management by providing resources, technical support in science and policy, as well as capacity-building. In the Conservancy’s 20 years of work in The Bahamas, the organization has provided scholarships to students, shared millions of dollars in grant-funding towards conservation projects, facilitated local and international training for hundreds of national and community-based stakeholders, and aided in the establishment of new local NGOs on several family islands.
Dr. Rob Brumbaugh, Executive Director of TNC Caribbean Division, speaking at the launch stated, “TNC is proud to have been a part of advancing conservation for the past twenty years in The Bahamas, one of the truly unique and marvelous places on earth. Led by three amazing Bahamian women leaders, The Bahamas program has taken conservation to new scales and shown that collaboration across the spectrum from individual fishers to the nation’s leaders is what makes conservation successful.”
Marcia D. Musgrove, Director for the Northern Caribbean Program in The Bahamas, also commented on this momentous occasion. “At TNC our mission is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends, and The Bahamas is an excellent example of a country whose economy and culture are inextricably linked to the ocean and land around us. I am very grateful for the strong work ethic of our staff and the spirit of collaboration among our partners and local communities here that has yielded transformative and positive outcomes over the years.”
Amongst many milestones, key achievements of TNC included serving as coordinator for The Bahamas Spiny Lobster Fishery Improvement Project, which led to the first international sustainable seafood certification in the Caribbean region and helped the country to maintain its seafood export market share. Additionally, TNC collaborated with regional governments and partners to launch the Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI), which supported the expansion of the Bahamas Protected Areas Network to help The Bahamas meet its 20% nearshore marine area protection goal. TNC was also pivotal in the establishment of the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund and a regional network of national conservation trust funds, including the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (BPAF) in 2014 which provides sustainable financing for protected areas management, climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation into perpetuity.
Since launching the Bahamas Coral Innovation Hub with partners in 2018, TNC’s Northern Caribbean Program was also among the first recipients of a grant from the Global Fund for Coral Reefs to implement the Impact Funding for BahamaReefs program. This eight-year initiative launched in 2022 will identify and provide innovative financing for local projects and businesses whose revenue-generating activities promote healthy coral reefs and associated ecosystems while providing benefits to reef-dependent communities.
Over the past two decades, The Nature Conservancy has directly employed 30 Bahamian professionals whose expertise have been recognized across the wider organization through promotions and awards. This includes the first two program directors, Eleanor Garraway-Phillips who retired as External Affairs Director for TNC’s Caribbean Division and Shenique Albury Smith who now serves as Deputy Director for the Caribbean Division.
TNC remains one of the leading environmental organizations in the region, pioneering initiatives for healthy oceans, and climate resilience through science, policy, capacity-building and innovative finance mechanisms.
