Abaco Students Learning What They Can Do About Climate Change
|
The Bahamas
– Climate change is quickly becoming a large problem across the globe and
particularly affects us in The Bahamas as we are surrounded by water. The Bahamas is made up of 90% water and
contains coral reefs which break down wave energy and minimize impacts from
storms such as hurricanes. If climate change worsens, many of our coral reefs
will die and in addition, we will loose most of our land due to rising level of
the sea around our islands.
To get students, particularly young women,
involved in putting a stop to climate change, Hon Melanie Griffin, Minister of
Social Services and Community Development, and the Bahamas National Trust (BNT)
recently organised a webinar titled ‘Women and The Environment: Our adaptation
to Climate Change’ which was broadcast to over 100 female students throughout
the archipelago and chaired by College of The Bahamas Professor, Margo
Blackwell.
Young women from
Grand Bahama, New Providence, Abaco, Eleuthera, Andros and Long Island tuned in
as all female presenters from a variety of environmental agencies gave brief
presentations on climate change and the small steps we as individuals can take
to slow it down.
“The Bahamas is one
of the most vulnerable countries in the world when it comes to the impact of
climate change,” said Hon. Melanie Griffin, who hosted the webinar. “I am very pleased to welcome this great
group of women to discuss the timely topic of climate change and how important
it is to put a stop to this in The Bahamas.”
Hon. Melanie Griffin Opening the Webinar
|
As the event was
held during National Women’s Week, all of the presenters were women which
included; Nikita Shiel Rolle, Founder and Director of Young Marine Explorers
(YME), Olivia Patterson, Program Coordinator for Friends of the Environment,
Shenique Smith, Director of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Gabrielle Douglass of
the Andros Conservancy and Trust (ANCAT) and Lakeshia Anderson, Grand Bahama
Parks Manager at the BNT. Each
presenter gave their individual perspective on climate change based on their
research on their respective islands.
The BNT’s Grand
Bahama Parks Manager Lakeshia Anderson presented on ‘Climate Change and
Protected Area Management’. She
highlighted the importance of the establishment of protected areas, like BNT
parks, when it comes to climate change as they help to reduce overfishing,
pollution, dredging, illegal and destructive fishing practices, sand mining,
invasive species and other threats in these areas. “These protected areas help
to increase reef resilience,” said Anderson, “and reduce some of the local
stressors to improve coral reef health to mitigate hurricane impacts.”
YME Director
Rolle’s presentation showed how climate change affects us all, and gave small
tips that students can make to help combat climate change including 1) don’t
let others litter, 2) save as much energy as possible, and 3) use as little
plastic as possible. Her speech and the
others can be found on an interactive webinar which is now uploaded on the
BNT’s YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6v5Ufg8Wow&feature=youtu.be).
In addition to this, webinar presenters will be answering any questions
on climate change via the Trust’s Facebook page.
Abaco Students During the Webinar
(Photo courtesy of Barefoot Marketing)
|
“We were happy to
partner with the Ministry of Social Services and National Development to bring
pertinent information about climate change to schools on several Family Islands
and Grand Bahama,” said Portia Sweeting, BNT Education Director. “With internet
access, our webinar platform allows us to reach new and remote audiences all
over The Bahamas and the world.”
Young women from Grand Bahama, New Providence, Abaco, Eleuthera, Andros and Long Island tuned in as all female presenters from a variety of environmental agencies gave brief presentations on climate change and the small steps we as individuals can take to slow it down. Pictured are students from Grand Bahama who participated in the webinar.
(Photo courtesy of Barefoot Marketing)
|
