Sandwatch Most Significant Change Stories: 2017 Bahamas
Submitted by Candace Key, Sandwatch Co-ordinator, Bahamas
The Importance of the Sandwatch Programme at the Hope Town Primary School, Abaco, Bahamas
Hope Town School is a multi-cultural school on the 6 mile long island of Elbow Cay in Abaco, Bahamas. The population of the island is approx. 500 people with the population doubling during the winter months when the second home owners arrive for the winter. Abaco, like all of the Bahamas, depends on the tourism dollar for our livelihood. Our little island is very picturesque and attracts more and more tourists each year. Good for our economy but stressful on the environment. Our 150 year old, wooden, original 1 room red and white schoolhouse provides a very well rounded education for 70 children Pre-School through Grade 6.
Our school actually began the environmental education emphasis of the Bahamas. Being on a small island it is easy to see the damage and changing environs quickly. We were very excited to jump on the SANDWATCH bandwagon when it was presented to us at a conference in our capital of Nassau in the 1990's. We began right away with the basic measurement guidelines. We applied it to our many beach /mangrove clean-ups and the kids loved seeing Math come alive.
Soon after that a tourist reported a huge fishing net had washed up and onto one of our patch reef sections a mere 50 feet off shore. A team of 2 teachers and 6 older students swam out and spent many hours cutting the net off. The net was too heavy to remove from the beach so the kids hauled it closer to shore and set it in an area by the resort's bar which continually washed out and eroded . Students continually checked on that net to see how the sea burys it and then nearly unearths it again---all the while holding the beach in that area.
We have been hit by 3 major hurricanes since 1999. They have damaged our town, destroyed many houses and our dunes. The town purchased hundreds of sea oats to replant the damaged dunes. Our school was a major player in the replanting all over the island. As a SANDWATCH project we placed signage in all the areas and constantly monitored the areas for growth. They grew for 6 years until we were struck by 2 hurricanes in close succession. Again, we monitored their demise and eventual re-growth. Our signs are still on the dunes at the resort next to the school where we did most of our work. Soon after the re-planting, the students did a brochure for the hotels and rental houses on Reef Etiquette. This was the end product of many hours of students interviewing tourists on the beach.
We have covered a large portion of our school grounds with a garden that the children plant , tend and then sell to raise funds for the school. We collect compost material after break and lunch at school and use it on the garden. We set up elaborate tubing from our air conditioner units and bathroom sinks to water the ever growing garden. This project has been so successful that schools from all over the Bahamas have come to see how we are doing this wonderful project.
Through the years we have attended , and presented , at many SANDWATCH conferences throughout the Caribbean.The children's horizons are widened and their circle of friends broadened. Sharing with other children empowers these young future citizens. Look what we CAN accomplish !
Our little school has done work on NO plastic bags (only reusable cloth), using take away containers from restaurants made from bio-degradable materials, mangrove protection, conch-servation ( preserving our endangered conch population), size matters ( getting the word out about taking crawfish only up to measure) and we now run the island's only aluminum can and plastic bottle re-cycling center!
All this work was great fun and learning for the students. One of our students has been an Environmental Education Officer for many years with our local environmental education group and 2 are now Environmental Policy lawyers.
All these fantastic projects earned the Hope Town School the honor of being the FIRST government school in the Bahamas to be awarded the prestigious UNESCO GREEN FLAG and to be designated as a UNESCO GREEN FLAG SCHOOL. We are proud to be aligned with the SANDWATCH programme and the future can only make this unique programme more important for schools to participate in as the population stresses our fragile environment more and climate change threatens the very existence of so many of our islands.
Candace Key
Sandwatch Co-ordinator
Bahamas
The Importance of the Sandwatch Programme at the Hope Town Primary School, Abaco, Bahamas
Hope Town School is a multi-cultural school on the 6 mile long island of Elbow Cay in Abaco, Bahamas. The population of the island is approx. 500 people with the population doubling during the winter months when the second home owners arrive for the winter. Abaco, like all of the Bahamas, depends on the tourism dollar for our livelihood. Our little island is very picturesque and attracts more and more tourists each year. Good for our economy but stressful on the environment. Our 150 year old, wooden, original 1 room red and white schoolhouse provides a very well rounded education for 70 children Pre-School through Grade 6.
Our school actually began the environmental education emphasis of the Bahamas. Being on a small island it is easy to see the damage and changing environs quickly. We were very excited to jump on the SANDWATCH bandwagon when it was presented to us at a conference in our capital of Nassau in the 1990's. We began right away with the basic measurement guidelines. We applied it to our many beach /mangrove clean-ups and the kids loved seeing Math come alive.
Soon after that a tourist reported a huge fishing net had washed up and onto one of our patch reef sections a mere 50 feet off shore. A team of 2 teachers and 6 older students swam out and spent many hours cutting the net off. The net was too heavy to remove from the beach so the kids hauled it closer to shore and set it in an area by the resort's bar which continually washed out and eroded . Students continually checked on that net to see how the sea burys it and then nearly unearths it again---all the while holding the beach in that area.
We have been hit by 3 major hurricanes since 1999. They have damaged our town, destroyed many houses and our dunes. The town purchased hundreds of sea oats to replant the damaged dunes. Our school was a major player in the replanting all over the island. As a SANDWATCH project we placed signage in all the areas and constantly monitored the areas for growth. They grew for 6 years until we were struck by 2 hurricanes in close succession. Again, we monitored their demise and eventual re-growth. Our signs are still on the dunes at the resort next to the school where we did most of our work. Soon after the re-planting, the students did a brochure for the hotels and rental houses on Reef Etiquette. This was the end product of many hours of students interviewing tourists on the beach.
We have covered a large portion of our school grounds with a garden that the children plant , tend and then sell to raise funds for the school. We collect compost material after break and lunch at school and use it on the garden. We set up elaborate tubing from our air conditioner units and bathroom sinks to water the ever growing garden. This project has been so successful that schools from all over the Bahamas have come to see how we are doing this wonderful project.
Through the years we have attended , and presented , at many SANDWATCH conferences throughout the Caribbean.The children's horizons are widened and their circle of friends broadened. Sharing with other children empowers these young future citizens. Look what we CAN accomplish !
Our little school has done work on NO plastic bags (only reusable cloth), using take away containers from restaurants made from bio-degradable materials, mangrove protection, conch-servation ( preserving our endangered conch population), size matters ( getting the word out about taking crawfish only up to measure) and we now run the island's only aluminum can and plastic bottle re-cycling center!
All this work was great fun and learning for the students. One of our students has been an Environmental Education Officer for many years with our local environmental education group and 2 are now Environmental Policy lawyers.
All these fantastic projects earned the Hope Town School the honor of being the FIRST government school in the Bahamas to be awarded the prestigious UNESCO GREEN FLAG and to be designated as a UNESCO GREEN FLAG SCHOOL. We are proud to be aligned with the SANDWATCH programme and the future can only make this unique programme more important for schools to participate in as the population stresses our fragile environment more and climate change threatens the very existence of so many of our islands.
Candace Key
Sandwatch Co-ordinator
Bahamas