If learning about birds is your thing, then the Bahamas National Trust’s (BNT) May Public Lecture at the Rand Nature Centre in Grand Bahama is just for you! The BNT has been collaborating with several international scientists and organizations to understand the Importance of The Bahamas as overwintering sites for North American Shorebirds and this lecture will tell you all about what has been learned.
The lecture, which will be held Wednesday, May 13th at 6:30pm, will feature Matthew Jeffery, Director and Senior Program Manager for Audubon’s International Alliances Program (Caribbean) for the National Audubon Society.
Jeffery, in his position with the National Audubon Society, has been working with a number of countries including Mexico, Panama, Belize, Argentina, Paraguay and The Bahamas and has over fifteen years of conservation experience.
Jeffery is especially focused on protecting Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Latin America and the Caribbean for Neotropical migrant bird populations, which makes him specially suited to present at the May public lecture. “I am excited to share the information that Audubon and BNT have been collecting over the past few years that clearly shows the significant role The Bahamas plays in international shorebird conservation,” said Jeffery.
Matt is also the lead on an important bird guide and nature tourism development project that is being implemented by Audubon and BNT, with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank. This project is training bird guides across several countries in the Americas, in hopes of encouraging increased bird tourism to support local economies.
Once a month at the Rand Nature Centre the BNT offers its members and the general public FREE lectures from professionals in their fields with matters of ecology, oceanography, biology, evolutionary history and other subjects addressing local and non-local biodiversity, sustainability and ecology in a scientific presentation. The Grand Bahama team at the BNT encourages all Grand Bahamians to attend this and future public lectures to learn more about their environment and how they can protect it.
“The Audubon Society is the largest NGO for bird protection in this hemisphere, they are the leaders in this area. The BNT has been working with Audubon for a number of years now to monitor and protect birds in The Bahamas,” said Shamie Rolle, Chairman of the Grand Bahama Regional Branch of the BNT. “Birds play a significant part in our environment. I am looking forward to an entertaining and informative lecture on the importance of birds to our natural environment.I challenge everyone to come out and join us.”
ABOUT:The Bahamas National Trust was created by an Act of Parliament in 1959 to build and manage the national park system of the Bahamas. Possibly the only non-governmental organization in the world charged with such a responsibility the TRUST, as it is commonly known works daily to conserve and protect the natural resources of The Bahamas, through stewardship and education for present and future generations. There are currently 27 National Parks managed by the TRUST with more than 2 million acres of marine and terrestrial areas protected.
Website: http://www.bnt.bs/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bahamas-National-Trust/25034035861?ref=hl
