By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
THE Bahamas National Trust (BNT) yesterday said the number of national parks under its oversight could almost double within the next year, creating a variety of business opportunities.
Eric Carey, the BNT’s executive director, told Tribune Business there was a “need and opportunity” for nature-based, as well as food and beverage activities, at some of these sites.
“We’re looking at, as an example, bringing a number of parks into operation and putting in infrastructure. Bonefish Pond is an incredible site which we believe has the potential to attract a lot of business and generate income,” he said.
“We probably won’t build a restaurant food and beverage operation out there. We’d probably look to someone who understands the business of the space, the business potential of it and figure out how we go into it.”
Mr Carey added: “Not only is there a need but, quite frankly. there is an opportunity for people to operate not only nature-based businesses but some of the other businesses; the food and beverage, maybe people operating gift stores with our branding etc.
“There are lot of opportunities we are thinking through, but it’s a slow process because, again, when you’re working in a public space, in a national park, you have to be careful of the type of things you are going to allow. You have to be careful about not restricting public access, not selling out the assets of the people. It takes a lot of negotiations and renegotiations to come to a final agreement that makes sense to us and the operator.”
Mr Carey said the BNT currently has 32 national parks in its care. “There are some proposed sites that have been before the Government for finalisation since 2015,” he added. “In late 2018 we also gave the minister a list of other national parks.
“Under our mandate we may have 60 national parks in the next year or so once all of these designations go through. Not all of them are going to have intense use with visitor services. We have identified, as an example, for the next five years, ten national parks which are a top priority for providing access for Bahamians and visitors to enjoy the national parks.”
Mr Carey added: “We have identified the investment needs. We hope to work with government as all are private fund raisers, philanthropic donors as well as potential business partners. We’re going to look at all aspects of funding to bring them on stream.
“We believe that once these national parks come on stream it provides more funding for our organisation, but we believe more importantly they could provide good economic opportunities for communities - not only in Nassau.”
Mr Carey said the BNT believes it could create a “few hundred jobs” on Grand Bahama alone by creating nature-based tourism business opportunities for Bahamians at national parks. “We’re going to be working with the University of The Bahamas, specifically for Grand Bahama, on trying to get a study carried out to determine the true economic potential of the natural areas on Grand Bahama,” he added.
“We want to see how many jobs we could provide but, more importantly, how many jobs could be created through nature-based tourism. Six to seven-room resorts could generate a lot of money for Bahamians, and they are small enough for Bahamians who either have the capital now or can find the capital to invest in small eco-lodges. Every one of them is going to employ 20-30 people directly.
“You also have the people providing the tours, the support systems and taxi drivers to get them there. The economic impact could be quite significant. Yes, we’re looking at reviving the Grand Lucayan, but those people are going to need something to do. Grand Bahama is going to need national parks, protected areas, nature-based tourism and people providing things for people to do to make their visit enjoyable.”
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 2 months ago
Yep, Carey certainly knows all about business opportunities, but sadly the same cannot be said about his knowledge of the conservation and preservation objectives and needs of The Bahamas National Trust. LMAO
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