National

Defending Our Shorelines With Mangroves

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Restoring the environment and strengthening climate resilience, those are the key goals of a major mangrove restoration effort underway at Bonefish Pond National Park.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 3, 2025

Delvardo Emmanuel

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Restoring the environment and strengthening climate resilience, those are the key goals of a major mangrove restoration effort underway at Bonefish Pond National Park.

In honor of Forestry Month, volunteers and officials gathered for a planting initiative, reinforcing the importance of coastal protection and ecosystem preservation.

Mangroves are the first line of defense against coastal erosion and storm surges, but many of The Bahamas’ mangrove forests have been severely damaged by past hurricanes and human activity.

In response, The Bahamas National Trust, along with CARICOM and other regional partners, are working to restore these vital ecosystems.

Spearheading this restoration effort is CARICOM Ambassador Leslia Miller-Brice, who has been an advocate for mangrove conservation across the region.

Leslia Miller-Brice – Bahamas Ambassador, CARICOM

“This is the beginning of an initiative that started during the 50th anniversary, where we took over a hundred students, um, and we planted hundreds of mangroves. And so this is just another part of our initiative that we want to continue to do just to ensure that Bahamians, we want to bring awareness to mangroves and the importance of mangroves.”

This park, established as a protected area in 2002 and opened to the public in 2009, has been at the center of a 30-year restoration project led by The Bahamas National Trust.

This restoration effort is part of a broader initiative to strengthen The Bahamas’ resilience against climate change. And while the BNT has made significant progress, there is still more to be done. Park Manager Chantel Curtis is praising the efforts to date.

Chantel Curtis – Park Manager

“It unfortunately was the site of a lot of indiscriminate dumping. And so the BNT, along with many volunteers, removed over nine tons of waste, debris, metals, et cetera, from this area. And so, as a result, we’ve had to scrape this area clean, and the mangroves that you see here.”

Youth ambassadors also tagged along, getting a firsthand tutorial on how to plant the trees.

Officials emphasized that mangroves not only protect against storms but also serve as nurseries for marine life and support local fisheries.

Deon Gibson – Director of Operations, BNT

“All of our various food sources, as well as the terrestrial impacts that happen when we destroy mangroves. We end up losing some of our farming areas, as The Bahamas is very low-lying, and all across the country, we’ve seen farmland impacted by storm surges. And so these types of exercises help to minimize that impact.”

With climate change accelerating and sea levels rising, the work being done here at Bonefish Pond serves as a crucial step in safeguarding The Bahamas’ future.