The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP)) director yesterday said reefs remain central to The Bahamas’ environmental and economic well-being.

"Corals in The Bahamas support biodiversity, coastal protection, fisheries, tourism and cultural heritage," Dr Rhianna Neely-Murphy told a Miami workshop staged by the MSC Foundation. "They underpin our economy and our way of life." She added that coral reefs play an important role in supporting the country's tourism product, including areas frequented by cruise passengers and stopover visitors.

Mrs Neely-Murphy said DEPP's role is to ensure economic development and environmental protection move forward together. "The Department's primary role is to ensure developments are not only economically viable but environmentally sustainable," she said.

The agency reviews development proposals, monitors environmental compliance and works with developers to mitigate impacts on sensitive ecosystems, including coral reefs and other marine habitats.

Mrs Neely-Murphy said the Department has adopted a policy objective of ensuring there is "no net loss" of critical species in The Bahamas. "We have taken the mandate that there is to be no net loss of critical species in the country," she saddedaid.

Matthew McKinnon, chairman of the MSC Foundation advisory board, said the workshop was convened because of the growing threat posed by stony coral tissue loss disease in Bahamian waters.

"Florida is ground zero for stony coral tissue loss disease, but The Bahamas is very much the fall-out zone," he said. "There has been an incredible spread of this disease across The Bahamas with really significant impact."

Mr McKinnon said the event was intended to strengthen co-operation between scientists, government agencies and conservation organisations working on the issue.

"We pulled this workshop together to try and look at the interplay between Florida and The Bahamas, to really zero in on the situation in The Bahamas, which is really quite serious," he said.

Participants discussed coral rescue efforts, treatment programmes, reef monitoring and restoration initiatives currently underway throughout The Bahamas.

David Smith, chief scientific adviser to the MSC Foundation, said organisations such as the global shipping giant play an important role in helping mobilise resources and expertise needed to address complex environmental challenges.

"Foundations play an absolute pivotal role in bringing the resources and expertise required to answer such complex questions," he said. Mr Smith described coral reef decline as an urgent global issue,and said collaboration between governments, scientists, conservation organisations and funding partners would be essential to protecting reefs for future generations.

Experts from The Bahamas, Florida and across the region convened at MSC Foundation headquarters in Miami to discuss the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease and the importance of protecting reefs that support tourism, fisheries and coastal communities.

The MSC Foundation's ‘Partnering for resilient reefs’ workshop brought together government officials, researchers, conservation organisations and private sector partners to discuss the disease's impact on Bahamian reefs and identify opportunities for greater collaboration.