INAGUA & ANDROS, Bahamas - The Bahamas National Trust (BNT) in partnership with National Audubon Society and the Inter-American Development Bank group (IDB), and the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) recently recognised sixty-six (66) new bird guides in two graduation ceremonies, held in Matthew Town, Inagua and Fresh Creek, Andros.
The successful graduates completed 'Basic Bird Level Guide Training' to prepare them for bird guiding as a means of income generation in National Parks on their islands. Additionally, these aspiring guides completed BahamaHost training and First Aid certification. Attending the graduation in Inagua were Harrison Thompson, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Tourism Maria Florencia Attedemo-Hirt, IDB Country Representative for The Bahamas, Matthew Jeffery, Deputy Director for the Caribbean International Alliances Program, National Audubon Society, Eric Carey, Executive Director, and Lynn Gape, Deputy Executive Director of the BNT.
Addressing the graduates Mr. Thompson said, "We see Audubon as key to improving marketing to drive more visitors to The Bahamas as a birding tourism destination. Inagua, with its flocks of flamingos, resident population of Bahama Parrots, great numbers of wetland bird species and Morton's Solar Salt operation certainly has great potential in this niche tourism market."
In speaking to the graduates Mrs. Attedemo-Hirt emphasized that the strength of this particular project was its innovative approach to building potential small businesses and the possible powerful model for conservation-minded community development.

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