By FAY SIMMONS
fsimmons@tribunemedia.net
WITH the country’s 50th independence approaching, Tribune Business sat down with people in the environmental field to discuss their vision for our environment going into the next 50 years.
Stacey Moultrie, an environmental planner at SEV Consultancy Group, said: “A healthy environment with ecosystems that function properly, are vital to our country and its people.”
The approach that the country has previously taken to development has been criticised by environmental scholars and activists alike.
Environmentalist Joe Darville said natural resources on many of our island have been permanently damaged by unsustainable development.
He said: “Our environment in The Bahamas, specifically on some of the Family Islands had been devastated as a result of development, when there was no regard for just digging up hundreds and thousands of acres of prime mangroves, because they said they serve no purpose.”
Some have called for a step away from mega developments and a transition to more eco-friendly constructs. Mr Darville is of the opinion that building for financial means without regard for the environment will have detrimental consequences if continued. He said: “Governments in the past have allowed unregulated development to actually destroy a tremendous amount of our environment because people want us to have places along the coastal area. If our islands become inundated and unlivable in certain areas? Where do we flee to? Where do we go?”
Ms Moultrie recommends a vision for development by collaborating with advisors to construct a development plan for each island and then bringing in developers that align with that vision.
She said: “We need to develop our own vision for our country’s development. We should collaborate with citizens on each island and develop our own vision for what that island should look like in the future. And then we seek out developers that would help us to fulfill that vision. So the vision comes from inside the country rather than outside the country.”
Stronger zoning laws can also aid in ensuring that commercial and residential areas are clearly zone away from protected nature areas.
Mr Darville said: “We are not talking about ceasing developments but rather to develop with common sense, do not develop where it is going to negatively impact our ocean, our mangroves, our sea borders, etc.”
Ms Moultrie also suggests embracing more eco-tourism models rather than mega developments as they do not have the economic benefits they are perceived to - especially when considering the environmental costs associated with such constructs. She said: “Because we’re a small island development state, we have to move away from mega development, they aren’t sustainable. And if we will take the time to actually look at the economics, they do not have the positive impact locally, that they’re counted to have.
“She believes the financial benefits of such large developments do not filter proportionately through the country as the majority of profits leave the country with the foreign owners.
She said: “Whenever they bring up these large developments, they’ll talk about the billions of dollars it will generate, but that money never filters into this country, it leaves. And so it makes no sense to keep pursuing these large developments that not only damage the environment, but also don’t really have any impact locally, in terms of economic benefit to citizens, or programmes or our overall development.”
Strides must also be made in the country’s approach to environmental education, according to some. Dr Brandon Bethel, programme coordinator for Small Island Sustainability at the University of The Bahamas, is of the opinion that we need a new outlook on sciences.
He said: “We need a radical shift in the way that we approach science. In terms of why should we fund it? Why should we do it? Why should we encourage it?”
Dr Bethel said we need to have people that understand our environment on a scientific level to conserve it.
He said: “If we cannot do the fundamental science to develop or understand our environment or to understand the spatial temporal distribution of our natural resources, then we cannot conserve these things and then we definitely cannot benefit from them economically.”
Dr Bethel also suggested that an agency or programme dedicated exclusively to scientific grants and research would also be advantageous to facilitating environmental conservation. He said: “Under the backdrop of anthropogenic climate change and sea level rise, we need to have avenues by which research can be done in the workplace, and then funded to actually do it.”
Environmental education not only raises an awareness and sensitivity to the environment and the environmental challenges we face, but it encourages an attitude of concern for the environment and motivates people to improve or maintain environment quality.
Mr Darville suggests embedding conservation classes into the curriculum as a means to enlighten both students and parents of the dangers our environment faces and how we can combat it.
He said: “We should be introducing conservation into the schools as well, because they go back into the homes and carry that message to the parents.”
Mr Darville also suggests diversifying to ensure that potential climate change consequences, such as rising sea levels would not have such a drastic impact on our economy if the tourism sector collapses.
He said: “We are fortunate because of where we are placed on the planet, to have probably one of the most lucrative tourism industries in the world. But we have to be careful that within 25 or 30 years, many of our islands can be inundated with the ocean, and so that means that we could eventually lose all of the things that actually attract tourists to come to our shores.”
Ms Moultrie agrees that our economy needs to be diversified and careers in sustainability should be supported and encouraged.
She said: “We definitely need to diversify our economy. There are a lot of careers linked in sustainability that people can pursue. And the government should ensure that they are supported and facilitated. It’s all about teaching young people, not just the value of natural resources and ecosystems, but that they can actually have a livelihood based on natural resources that is sustainable and provides a lucrative income.”
Careers in conservation also include scientific roles such as data entry and processing personnel, environmental economists, and environmental planners.
Bethel added that although there are funds available for environmental research, locally there is an issue sourcing qualified persons to assume those roles.
He said: “There is a vast quantity of funds available from both local and international organisations to do this kind of basic research. And our issue is, and we have no one who could do it, we always have to bring in somebody from abroad.”
Ms Moultrie hopes Bahamians will one day see our environment as a core part of our identity. She said: “For the future, I want to see Bahamians come to see the environment as a part of their identity, and important to their well-being. We cannot continue to think of the environment as something outside ourselves.”
Mr Darville added: “My wish is that before I die, I want to make sure that the most Bahamians are aware of the gem, the treasure that we have, and the responsibility to protect it that has been bequeathed to us by the virtue of being here. We need people who have a gut-wrenching sense of what it is to protect our environment and our country and preserve resources for future generations.”