Top: A broken culvert; a green heron; and a boat hull blocks the waterway
Bottom: Healthy coral and a healthy mangrove (Ancat photos)
|
ANDROS, The Bahamas - In 2014 ten million people were engaged to vote for fifteen
projects from around the world supporting conservation projects to win one of
the three coveted European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) grants. This
year the only project short listed from the Caribbean region is a
coastal/mangrove restoration project in Andros, Bahamas. This project was
submitted by the Andros Conservancy and Trust (Ancat).
Voting begins on EOCA's website on March 9th and is open for
two weeks and the projects with the most votes will be announced as the winner
in late March.
"Andros is characterized by mangrove estuaries,"
explains Gabrielle Douglas, Operations
Manager at Ancat. "These are important ecosystems and serve as
nursery and refuge habitats for birds, fishes, turtles, dolphins, and
invertebrates. Working to save these mangroves, which play a huge role in the
Andros' coastal ecosystem, is what this project is all about."
If ANCAT is awarded the grant from EOCA the Andros Mangrove
Restoration project would restore 96 hectares of local mangrove habitats across
Andros. This would be accomplished by opening broken and clogged culverts,
rebuilding crushed waterways, removing invasive
Casuarina pines, and replanting native plants (such as mangroves and
seagrapes). By restoring the local
mangrove ecosystems Ancat will be directly assisting in preserving and
conserving the Andros Barrier Reef, the third longest in the world.
In order to assist Ancat in winning this coveted grant VOTE
here:
●
www.outdoorconservation.eu,
●
Click on the Project tab,
●
Look on the right of the page for project voting
●
Go to
OUTDOOR
category
●
And vote for the Andros Mangrove Restoration Project
The mangroves are an important part of estuarine food webs.
Leaves drop from the mangrove trees and are quickly decomposed by fungi and
bacteria, this decomposed matter is flushed out into the open ocean by outgoing
tides and provides a food source for marine life including economically
important crabs and fish. An estimated 75% of game fish and 90% of the
commercial species in the Bahamas are dependent upon the mangrove system for at
least a part of their life cycles. The fish eat algae and clean the coral reef,
to maintain its health and the mangroves protect the shoreline during storms
and assist to mitigate the effects of climate change. Mangroves also store
large amounts of CO2, helping to maintain a balance in the atmosphere and
serving as a carbon sink.
Ancat is a non-government, not for profit organization,
operating in Andros, working to educate local communities, and conserve nature.
Learn more about ANCAT now www.ancat.net.