FREEPORT, Grand Bahama - Recently the president, executive director and Grand Bahama parks manager of the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) met with the minister for Grand Bahama, Hutchison Whampoa executives and Grand Bahama Port Authority representatives to review the proposed new and extended parks for the island.
The two newly-proposed parks for East Grand Bahama and Northshore/The Gap, as well as the extended Lucayan and Peterson's Cay areas, are all featured on TV ads to be released in November. Using drone video footage, the ads were created to solicit feedback from the public on the proposed areas.
"The government has been very keen to support our request for more parks, but has been very clear that they want public consultation and feedback," said Lakeshia Anderson, BNT's Grand Bahama parks manager. "We are asking for the public to review our ads, then go to the website to view the proposed areas and sign the petition if they support them."
Previously, environmental organizations have had to rely on letter-writing campaigns to support the creation of new national parks, but thanks to the easy and fast-paced way of social media, they can now interact with their supporters in a simpler feedback format.
Attending the stakeholder breakfast meeting was Minister for Grand Bahama Dr. Michael Darville. "Our job as residents is to protect our island. Nothing is carved in stone, and we want the best solution for all," he said. "Our prime minister is a passionate environmentalist and we fully support the BNT and their partners, but the 19 proposed areas for park inclusions must receive broad scale review."
Along with the minister, Sarah St. George, GBPA chairman; Graham Torode, president and CEO of Grand Bahama Development Co.; Senator Tanisha Tynes; Permanent Secretary Melvin Seymour of the Ministry for Grand Bahama; Betty Bethel of Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board, The Nature Conservancy and local environmental non-governmental organizations were given a preview of the TV ads and a detailed description of the boundaries and resident feedback. President of the BNT Larry Glinton closed the event and thanked the representatives for their time and his team for their dedication to the efforts.
"We must fully embrace our environment, not just give it lip service," said Glinton. "Be very clear we at the BNT are not anti-development; rather, we seek to protect the natural beauty that makes us so desirable as a destination and which astronauts consistently describe as 'the most stunning view from outer space'."

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