The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas National Trust (BNT) faces an annual $150m funding gap over what is needed to fully manage this nation’s marine protected areas (MPAs) and national parks, it was revealed yesterday.

Lakeisha Anderson-Rolle, the Bahamas National Trust’s executive director, said this nation requires approximately $200m annually to properly manage these assets but existing funding sources remain insufficient despite new conservation financing initiatives such as the $125m forecast to be generated by the Bahamas Debt Conversion Project

"If you look at the protected area system holistically, it would cost about $200m to manage, and this is not inclusive of only the Bahamas National Trust sites under our portfolio but the entire network," she said.

The Bahamas National Trust manages 33 national parks and protected areas, including 22 marine protected areas that contain extensive coral reef systems. Speaking during the MSC Foundation's stony coral tissue loss disease ‘Partnering for resilient reefs’ workshop in Miami, Ms Anderson-Rolle said the BNT operates with an annual budget of about $50m.

"We receive about 20 percent of our income from the Government's subvention, and the remaining 20 percent we are seeking through grant funding, donations, user fees," she said. While acknowledging new sources of conservation financing, Ms Anderson-Rolle said current initiatives are not enough to close the funding gap.

"We are working with the Bahamas Debt Conversion project for marine conservation that brings more than $125m in funding for marine conservation," she said. "We also have the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund that also would bring access to funding to support the work of protected areas. The truth of the matter is projects that are currently on stream are not sufficient to cover those gaps."

Ms Anderson-Rolle acknowledged that financial constraints are already affecting management efforts. "I would be honest to say that we are not fully managing all of our protected areas because of the financial issues,” she added.

The BNT executive director said conservation agencies are facing growing demands as they respond to threats such as stony coral tissue loss disease while operating with limited resources. "This is not just a coral reef crisis. It is a capacity challenge. It is a financial challenge and, increasingly, a national resilience challenge,” Ms Anderson-Rolle said.

The BNT relies heavily on external partners to assist with monitoring and restoration efforts. Ms Anderson-Rolle said the organisation currently depends on a small team of science officers and trained divers to help oversee marine protected areas throughout The Bahamas.

Asked what role businesses could play, she said private sector support would be critical. "The easy one - private sector, bring the funding, bring the technical expertise,” Ms Anderson-Rolle said, adding that foundations and industry partners will be needed to help fill funding gaps and strengthen long-term conservation efforts.