A respected consultant and attorney this week reiterated his call for urgent passage of an environmental protection act, declaring The Bahamas was “nearing the brink of environmental catastrophe” and nothing short of comprehensive legislation would preserve fragile land and marine resources for future generations of Bahamians and ultimately safeguard the country’s tourism industry.
Romauld Ferreira, environmental attorney, consultant and a director of environmental group Save The Bays, made the plea at The 1st Annual Forestry Awareness Week Symposium hosted by the Forestry Unit of the Ministry of Environment & Housing. The March 18 event was held at The College of The Bahamas.
Ferreira compared the current state of attention to the environment in The Bahamas to the state the U.S. faced in 1969, a condition he called “nearing the brink of an environmental catastrophe,” when the depletion of ecosystems became too serious to ignore. The U.S. enacted an environmental protection act in late 1970.
“Rules must be placed to share it (the land) in an equitable manner,” said Ferreira. His comments reinforced those made by Prime Minister Perry Christie who opened the conference, calling attention to the importance of natural resources.
“This Ministry of the Environment and Housing, Forestry Unit is working to raise the level of consciousness within our populace,” the Prime Minister said. “I salute them. We cannot put an accurate dollar figure to the priceless ecological, economic, social and health benefits provided by forests, thus I will not attempt to do so.”
The call for protection of natural resources was a message repeated and reaffirmed by group after group, including several who are community partners of Save The Bays -- the Bahamas National Trust, BREEF, the Andros Conservancy and Abaco-based Friends of the Environment.
This is not the first time Ferreira has called for an environmental protection act with regulations and penalties and again he linked the need for protective legislation to the right to know. Without freedom of information, he said, the public is too often left unaware of development plans and has no opportunity to help shape plans that may be as close as their back yard and certainly impacting their communities, both in pressure on resources and in culture and lifestyle.
“The commonwealth is the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,” said the environmental consultant who is also a popular TV show host. “It’s a thing that we all own and that we all share together. You, the citizens of The Bahamas, have the right to know how your environment is being impacted.
Developments of a certain size ought to include consultation with Bahamians before approval.” Ferreira’s appeal for freedom of information and environmental protection are two of the main tenets of Save The Bays’ platform. The organization that is less than two years old has more than 17,200 Likes on Facebook and nearly 7,000 signatures on a petition that it plans to present to government this year.
In a country that depends upon tourism as its number one industry, preserving the sources of its appeal makes financial as well as ecological sense, said Ferreira.
“There is a tourism product that is out there that becomes unsustainable over time and depletes the natural resources and ecosystem,” he said.
Director of Forestry, Christopher Russell agrees that Ferreira’s bill goes hand in hand in with his department’s vision of thinking globally, but acting locally.
“Awareness is important,” he said. “Without it, you are going to have destruction.”
The symposium, according to the Forestry Director is one of the baby steps being taken by the 5-year-old unit to move toward its goal of preserving land in the Bahamian archipelago by establishing national parks. In carrying out its mandate, the agency will declare the National Forest Estate created under the 2014 Forestry Act which will comprise of three categories forest reserves, protected and conservation forests.
The symposium was one of a string events being held this week by the Ministry and will culminate on May 21, World Forestry Day with a documentary screening on the history of forestry and logging in The Bahamas at the Bahamas National Trust at 6 p.m.
Romauld Ferreira, veteran ecologist, Save The Bays director and environmental attorney and consultant, called for urgent environmental protection legislation to protect fragile resources for future generations of Bahamians and ultimately to sustain the tourism industry. Ferreira spoke at the 1st Annual Forestry Awareness Symposium opened by the Prime Minister and organized by the Forestry Unit of the Ministry of Environment and Housing.
Bahamian Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Perry G. Christie addressed the importance of protecting local resources for future generations to enjoy. His remarks came during the opening of the 1st Annual Forestry Awareness Week Symposium organized by the Forestry Unit of the Ministry of Environment and Housing and held at The College of The Bahamas. (Photograph by Joette Penn, courtesy of Ministry of Environment & Housing)
