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CEP Technical Report No. 36 1996: Status of Protected Area Systems in the Wider Caribbean Region
Country Profiles

BAHAMAS

Area 11,406 sq. km.

Summary Table

(1) Totals have been adjusted to avoid double counting areas that are classified in 2 or more categories.

Policy and Legislation

The Bahamas National Trust Act, 1959 empowers the Bahamas National Trust to hold and manage lands, waters and places of natural beauty or historic interest for purposes of conservation and preservation. Bye-laws for the management of such sites are made under this Act.

New bye-laws for all land-and-sea parks, drawn up by the Trust under Section 24 of the Act, came into force on 13 February 1986. The bye-laws prohibit the removal or destruction of wildlife, and other named activities that would degrade the areas originally designated for recreational purposes, but now also recognised as 'marine replenishment areas and nurseries'.

The Wild Birds Protection Act, 1905 was revised in 1965 and again in 1972. Section 5 makes provision for the designation of areas protected from hunting through the passing of Wild Bird Protection (Reserves) Orders. Between 1951 and 1965, 11 orders were passed designating 25 areas as wild bird reserves.

A recent Policy Statement for National Parks has been produced by the National Trust (Anon. 1991a). This document covers a number of headings ranging from system management and system expansion, to research, interpretation and education, and visitor use. It states, among other things, that each park will have to write a general management plan which will be reviewed by council every three years.

International Participation

Conventions & Treaties

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992)

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, 1973)

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS, 1982)

Programmes & Associations

Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP, 1981) and its Specially Protected Areas & Wildlife Programme (SPAW, 1990)

Administration

The Bahamas National Trust, a non-governmental self-funded organisation, is managed by a Council which consists of 21 members headed by the Trust President and includes government representatives, external conservation bodies, and Trust members. The Council appoints an Executive Committee which convenes at least once a month to co-ordinate and oversee the work of the various sub-committees. Staff includes four in central headquarters and three park wardens overseen by an Executive Director. The Trust is responsible for the protected areas system although it has no absolute authority within wild bird reserves.

The government department responsible for environmental conservation is the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Land Government, although the Department of Environmental Health Services is also involved with environmental issues.

Biodiversity

There are about 2750 islands, cays and rocks totalling 11,400 sq. km. of exposed surface. The islands and cays are low-lying, with an average elevation of only 10 m. Many of them have low hills which may reach 30-60 m in height. The dominant vegetation is low, dense, and thorny. Almost every island contains some wetland habitat, with the great majority comprising shallow brackish to saline lagoons, mangrove swamps, coastal flats and inter-tidal mudflats (Scott and Carbonell 1986). The Islands stand together with many coral reefs on two shallow submarine banks with the only deep water between the islands lying outside the barrier reef off the east coast of Andros, which is the largest of the islands.

In 1983, The Bahamas National Trust submitted to the government a proposal entitled "The Development of a National Park System for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas" identifying 52 additional sites throughout the islands which it felt should be given some protection, and defined three categories of protection: national park, national reserve and protected area. This was followed in 1984 by a national conservation strategy which also recommends the development of a representative system of protected areas (Bahamas National Trust 1984). This was subsequently represented during June 1990, identifying 12 sites of the highest priority.

A Bahamas Country Study on Biodiversity report was produced (Anon. 1992) in January 1992 based on the 1991 UNEP guidelines. This includes lists of current and proposed protected areas: the former consists of 10 sites covering 751,262 ha (incomplete data list below), while there are 53 proposed areas comprising 4 national parks, 16 national reserves and 33 unspecified. Also listed are a series of objectives for the conservation and rational utilisation of biodiversity: these include measures for cataloguing biodiversity; establishing protective measures including expansion of the protected areas network; and establishing sustainable practices for activities in all terrestrial and marine environments. A detailed cost assessment is provided for these and all other objectives.

Main pressure on existing protected areas comes from illegal hunting and fishing as it is the case for the two largest areas Inagua National Park and Exuma Cays Land-and-Sea Park. Additionally, most protected areas face an overuse from tourism and a lack of efficient management (OAS 1988)

Management

Bahamas has established six protected areas covering over 120,000 ha, which represents 9% of the land area of the island. Four of the 6 protected areas contain marine or coastal zones. No information was reviewed concerning management of these areas or implementation of the proposals for system expansion.

Contacts

Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Trade and Industry, PO Box N3028, NASSAU, New Providence. Telephone: (809) 393-1777 to 9 Fax: (809) 393-0238

Bahamas National Trust, PO Box N4105, NASSAU, New Providence

References

Anon. (1991a) Policy Statement for National Parks. Bahamas National Trust, Nassau. 4 pp.

Anon. (1991b) Aims, Objectives and Priorities. Bahamas National Trust, Nassau. 4 pp.

Anon. (1992) Bahamas country study on biodiversity: census, analysis, conservation costs, benefits and unmet needs. The Research Group, Nassau, Bahamas. 91 pp.

Bahamas National Trust (1984) A national conservation strategy for the Bahamas. Proposal. Bahamas National Trust, Nassau. 53 pp.

OAS (1986) Marine protected areas of the OAS Caribbean member states. Organisation of American States, Department of Regional Development.

OAS (1988) Inventory of Caribbean Marine and Coastal Protected Areas. Organisation of American States, Department of Regional Development. Ray, C. (Ed.) (1961). Report of the Exuma Cays park project. Bahamas National Trust. 39 pp.

Scott, D.A. and Carbonell, M. (1986) Directory of Neotropical Wetlands. IUCN, Cambridge and IWRB, Slimbridge. 684 pp.

UNEP/IUCN (1988) Coral Reefs of the World. Volume 1: Atlantic and Eastern Pacific. UNEP Regional Seas Directories and Bibliographies. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK/UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya. 373 pp.

ANNEX I: LEGAL INSTRUMENTS

Definitions of protected area designations, as legislated, together with authorities responsible for their administration

Title: The Wild Birds Protection (Reserves) Order

Date: 27 January 1951 (Commencement); subsequent Orders: 1954 (twice), 1955, 1956 (twice), 1958 (twice), 1961, 1962 and 1965.

Brief description: Makes provision for the establishment of wild bird reserves.

Administrative authority: Ministry of Agriculture

Designation:

Wild Bird Reserve: Either private or crown land may be declared as a reserve. Activities prohibited include wilful killing or capture of any wild bird in the reserve.

ANNEX II: BAHAMAS PROTECTED AREAS LIST

NP = NATIONAL PARK

MNR = MANAGED NATURE RESERVE

WBR = WILD BIRD SANCTUARY

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Preface | 1. Introduction | 2. Relevant Issues... | 3. Status of Protected Areas Systems | 4. Conclusions... | 5. References | Country Profiles