BAHAMAS ECO JUNE 2013 EXPLORE OUR NATIONAL PARKS 25+ PARKS ACROSS THE ARCHIPELAGO! HOUSING MATTERS PROVIDING VALUE FOR MONEY CARIBBEAN CHALLENGE INITIATIVE PHOTO EssAY EXUMA LAND & SEA PARK TOUR & CLIMATE CHANGE PROTECTING NATURE; PROTECTS OUR FUTURE MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT & HOUSING 1 TURNTURN OFFOFF THETHE LIGHTSLIGHTS WHENWHEN NOTNOT ININ ACTIVEACTIVE USEUSE EnvironmentallyEnvironmentally Friendly......SavesFriendly......Saves YouYou MoneyMoney Ministry of the Environment and Housing 2 BAHAMAS INFORMATION SERVICES 2013 MESSAGE from . MIN KENRED DORSETT pon taking office as Minister of the Environment and Housing I committed myself to beginning a campaign to inform the Bahamian people of the benefits of conservation Uand other subjects relative to the environment. I envisioned having as apart of the campaign an external newsletter for my ministry that would present to the public information of the work being done by the ministry on a quarterly basis. This idea over the past year has morphed into a full blown magazine. The publication that you now hold in your hands or are reading electronically is the first issue of Eco Bahamas. A magazine produced by the Ministry of the Environment and Housing with contributions from various islands and organizations within this country. T his inaugural issue serves as an introduction of my ministry and it’s partners. Our associates and partners in the work of environmental research, conservation, and protection have sent in articles that will educate members of the public on the work that they were created to do and are doing presently. These organizations such as the Nature Conservancy, the Bahamas National Trust, the Bahamas National Pride Association, the Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation and others have agreed to contribute to every issue of this magazine and I would like to extend my gratitude to them for their cooperation. Also in this issue you can read of a young woman’s first time at the Nassau Botanical Gardens, a place that I envision will become the Central Park of Nassau where our people will be able to retreat from the hustle of the city and commune with nature. Dr. Rhianna Neely of the BEST Commission informs us of climate change and its effects on The Bahamas . And we are fortunate to have essays written by students of the Bishop Michael Eldon School on Grand Bahama who participated in BORCO and Statoil’s after school programme on Petroleum and Measurement Products. Also in this issue we introduce several of the posters that are apart of my ministry’s conservation campaign and announce our 4 for 40 initiative. You can look forward to this publication becoming bigger and better as we continue this work. In future issues we will have feature interviews and will be offering advertising space for companies and other interested persons and organizations. I sincerely hope that this publication will fulfill the purpose for which it was created, which is to educated and encourage Bahamians on the preservation of our environment and to keep the nation abreast of what is going on within the Ministry of the Environment and Housing. I am pleased to present to you EcoBahamas Magazine. 3 CONTENTS 23 (BNT) BAHAMAS NATIONAL TRUST 12 CAPE ELEUTHERA ISLAND SCHOOL 38 CREDITS PHOTO ESSAY : EXECUTIVE EDITOR EXUMA LAND & Minister Kenred Dorsett 18 SEA PARK MANAGING EDITOR FRIENDS OF THE Joette Penn ENVIRONMENT MAGAZINE DESIGNER Toneka Neely DESIGN ASSOCIATE D’Asante Beneby ARTICLE CONTRIBUTORS 44 Bahamas National Trust OPERATION Bahamas National Pride 22 Assoc. DERELICT VEHICLES Island School, Eleuthera BORCO Friends of the & STATOIL Environment Andros Conservancy & Trust Dr. Rhianna Neely B.R.E.E.F Ah-Manda Campbell- Simmons 48 Estrella Brown PHOTOS HOUSING Joette Penn MATTERS Eleanor Philips Bahamas Information Services Bahamas National Trust Hadassah Ward Brian Kakuk Island School Eric Carey BORCO/Statoil 4 MY FIRST TRIP TOBOTANICALGARDENS o there I was a grown woman on her way expansive roots that made the man standing to the Nassau Botanical Gardens, never beside it seem like a child instead of the fully having been there before, although I grown man that he was. It was simply majestic pass the entrance almost every single in stature and stood there with the presence of Sday. I had just joked the other day with a steadfast guardian daring any wind or other someone that the gardens was just a plot of weather element bold enough to come try it. grass, not knowing that I was going to find out just how wrong I was. Of course as I always do I called before I went and arrived a few minutes after that call. When I entered the gates, which I found out later was actually the rear entrance, I met a lovely lady at the guard house who asked if I would like a tour. After looking at me, her next question was, “did you bring flat shoes”. I outfitted myself in the spare pair of shoes that are always in my car and we were off to walk around in the grass....I thought. The first thing I saw was a giant cotton tree with [ cont’ on pg.8 ] 5 THE CARIBBEAN HoteL EnergY EFFICIENCY AND RenewabLE EnergY Action –ADVANCED PrograM- CHENACT -AP REPORTER: LaToya Johnson - M.B.A., M.S.E. | Project Manager EMAIL: [email protected] Efficiency measures in any average hotel could provide potential savings of up to 30-50% in energy usage and 50% in water consumption. These energy efficiency actions concurrently have the ability to diminish the costs on utilities and by extent, contribute to a competitive industry. On the other hand, energy efficiency measures also contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions derived from the sector’s activity. Since hotels extensively operate appliances that use Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) such as air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, implementing energy efficiency measures will result in the reduction of Ozone Depleting Substance agents at the same time. “ EnERGY COST IS A MAJOR The adoption of standardized Energy Efficiency CONCERN FOR HOTELS IN practices will assist with making the tourism THE CARIBBEAN DUE TO industry more competitive and promote “green” tourism, through lower energy costs which are a THE REgion’s dEPENDENCE significant portion of a hotel’s operational costs, ON IMPORTED FUELS FOR and a positive environmental footprint that can ELECTRICITY GENERAtion.” be marketed to reach environmentally aware customers. The introduction of Renewable Energy technologies will relieve some of the pressure on energy generation by diversifying the energy matrix for the energy provider. The net impact of these measures on the economy will be reflected on the overall regional energy costs that are highly correlated with oil and gas international prices and fluctuating supply. The energy matrix of the Caribbean is 90% composed of fossil fuels as most electricity The Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency and generation in the region comes from imported Renewable Energy Action –Advanced Program oil. The cost of electricity has skyrocketed in (CHENACT-AP) aims to promote energy efficiency the last few years due to a dramatic surge in (EE) in the hotel industry, with the participation oil prices with expected volatility and price of a number of organizations and donors increases evident in the very near future. These interested in the sustainable development of issues have raised concern within the regional the sector. The first phase of the CHENACT hotel industry since the high utility price directly Project was initially started in Barbados in 2009. impacts fares for final consumers. In this light, The second phase of the project, CHENACT-AP, any energy savings is directly reflected on a lower was activated in 2012 in The Bahamas, Barbados, utility bill and a more competitive cost structure. and Jamaica and will also aim to bundle the Studies have shown that implementing Energy carbon emission reductions (CERs) from all three 6 countries, as a result of the energy efficiency measures and renewable energy applications. The Project will eventually develop a Program of Activities as climate finance instruments to bundle the CHENACT-AP reduced emissions and he Honorable Kenred Dorsett M.P., provide carbon credits for sale in the international carbon markets. Additionally, there will be Minister of Environment and Housing positive impacts to the environment in terms of declared his full support of the reductions in greenhouse gases and ozone layer depletion. The overall objective of the CHENACT- T Project at the launch on Thursday, AP Project in The Bahamas is to improve the February 7th, 2013 by stating that his Ministry competitiveness of small and medium sized hotels through efficient use of energy, with the and the Government will support the objectives emphasis on Renewable Energy and Micro- of the CHENACT-AP in the following ways: Generation. The Project will be managed in stages. The first stage will involve energy audits The Introduction of a Renewable Energy Act of participating hotels and recommendations on how to improve energy savings. The energy The Introduction of Net Metering with the Grid audits will then be transformed into financial proposals that can be presented to international The Creation of an Independent Regulatory or local financial institutions to obtain funding for implementation. The audits will consist of Entity for the Energy Sector thirty (30) comprehensive energy audits, thirty The Development of an Energy Unit within (30) walk-through assessments and a demo renewable energy installation on at least one the Ministry of the Environment property. The Project is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and The Provision of a Business License Tax Credit it is being executed by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) with the technical support for hotels that had energy audits performed of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association The Further Reduction of Customs Duties on (CHTA) and Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST).