November 2015 - Bahamas National Trust

Volume 10 Issue 14 November 2015
The Newsletter
of the Bahamas
National
Trust
IN THIS ISSUE
Celebrating 25 years of
Wine and Art
Wine and Art
Best in Show
Mangrove Cay Discovery
Clubs Thrive
Abaco Coral Reef
Rehabilitation
Inspired creative discussions on the Cycad Lawn.
The Leon Levy Native Plant
Preserve continues in its
efforts to increase
Biodiversity
P.O. Box N-4105
Nassau, Bahamas
Tel: 242-393-1317
[email protected] www.bnt.bs
For 25 years at the end of
October, The Retreat Gardens
have been transformed into a
gallery of amazing art accompanied by Bristol Wines and
Spirits’ fall selection of wines.
This year over 700 people
attended the event, which
supports the National Parks
system of The Bahamas.
Bristol Wines and Spirits
once again featured a selection of wines from around the
world and their knowledgeable staff were able to offer
advice on food pairing as well
as information about the wineries featured at the event.
“Supporting Bahamian artists
and the National Parks of The
Bahamas while promoting our
wines is important to Bristol
as evidenced by our long term
support of this event”, said
Rusty Scates, Wine Manager
for Bristol Wines and Spirits.
BNT members were also
treated to a special members
evening on Friday, sponsored
by Scotiabank with wine provided by Bristol Wines and
Spirits. The Emanji Circus
gave special live performances
while members were given a
first look at the art on display.
Scotiabank continued support
for the event on Saturday by
running the admissions gate.
The festival, which began
with 20 artists has grown, as
has the artistic community
in the country, to over 40
artists exhibiting annually
at the event. Event organizers were delighted to welcome new exhibitors Genaye
Sherman, Theo McClain,
Jennifer Bethel, Stefan Davis,
Matthew Rahming, Illeana
Harvey and Xan Xi Bethel as
continued on page 2
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TrustNotes - Volume 10, Issue 14 - November, 2015 2
Celebrating 25 years of Wine and Art
continued from page 1
well as many seasoned exhibitors such
as John Paul Saddleton, Toby Lunn,
Lemero Wright, Judith Papillon and
Quentin Minnis. This year the event
also featured live art demonstrations
by Alan P. Wallace and Stefan Davis
of Airbrush Junkies.
Art in many different mediums
was offered for sale and the BNT
was happy to see sales for many of
the artists at the event. “The BNT
Wine and Art was one of the first
events to promote Bahamian artists”,
said Lynn Gape, Deputy Executive
Director. “While there are many more
art events today, the Wine and Art
Festival provides the art lover a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a variety
of Bahamian art while meeting with
the artists”. The event also featured
a Best in Show Art Competition and
this year judges selected two winners,
Rashad Penn and Mega Mergers and
Bahamas Rowing Boats.
Wine and Art has evolved over
the years and now features culinary exhibitions, delicious food by
talented Bahamian chefs, musical
entertainment and performance art
by Emanji Circus Arts. Thanks to
sponsorship from the Ministry of
Tourism Culinary Division, patrons
enjoyed cooking demonstrations by
some of the best chefs on the island
with wines paired by Bristol Wines
and Spirits. Chef de Partie and Chef
Carvison Pratt of RIU Hotel and
Resorts demonstrated their skills by
creating amazing dishes featuring
popular Bahamian favourites, conch,
grouper, and lobster. Patrons were also
entertained throughout the day by
musical performances by MUIN255,
Smith Foundation Steel Pan Band,
Deuce and Forcefusion.
Events like Wine and Art are
important fundraisers for the BNT
and the monies raised go directly to
support the National Park system
which features 32 National Parks
across The Bahamas. “The support
of corporate sponsors like Bristol
Wines and Spirits and Scotiabank
is not just important for the event but
also for the message that it sends to
the larger corporate community, that
our work is important and worthy of
support”, said Eric Carey, Executive
Director of the BNT.,
Miss Earth Bahamas, Darronique Young, took time to pose with RBPF officers at the
event.
BNT Discovery Club asked patrons to “Play and Win” as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations.
TrustNotes - Volume 10, Issue 14 - November, 2015 3
Wine and Art
The BNT Wine and Art Festival was once again supported by
Bristol Wines and Spirits who introduced their fall wine collection
at the event.
The Smith Foundation Steel Pan Band was a crowd pleaser.
Stefan Davis of Airbrush Junkies worked “live on the porch” and donated the beautiful painting of the Bahama Parrot to the Wine and Art
auction.
Scotiabank greeted attendees at the gate.
Performances by Emanji Circus kept patrons entertained throughout the day.
Allan P. Wallace showcases his talented through sidewalk art.
TrustNotes - Volume 10, Issue 14 - Novemberber 2015 4
Wine and Art
Best in Show
Winners take center stage
For the second year in a row BNT
hosted the Best in Show Art Challenge at
the annual Wine and Art Festival. This
year’s winners, Rashad Penn and Mega
Mergers and Bahamas Rowing Boats,
who won in the 2-D and 3-D categories
respectively, happily received ribbons for
their winning entries on Saturday. Rashad
Penn’s amazing black and white photography caught the judges’ eyes while the
innovativeness of Mega Mergers’ recycled tire chairs left a lasting impression.
Photographic artist Rashad Penn
is the founder of Shadow and Light
Photography, an umbrella company
that was formed in 2008, which has
since branched out into other fields of
photography that include two subsidiary
companies, Optic Memory Souvenirs and
Bahamas Travel Stock and his personal work, Rashad Penn Photography. His
work has reached as far as China, Sweden,
London, Greece, Canada and various locations in the United States of America. He
also has an international fan base of followers in India, Australia, China, London,
Sweden, Canada, The United States of
America and the United Arab Emirates.
He started a Facebook group in 2011 that
has grown to over 150 members known
as The Photographers of the Bahamas,
which he plans to expand beyond the
restrictions of the social site Facebook. He
writes on numerous photography blogs
and is presently working on a teaching
blog designed especially for Bahamians
called Thebahamianphotographer.com.
His commercial work has been published
in magazines in New York, Barbados,
and London but his main objective is to
have one of his images published in the
National Geographic printed magazine.
With the help of a few of his photography
friends, Rashad has organized and carried
out a few photo walks and workshops on
the island of New Providence, and has
plans to teach the art of photography to
as many as are willing to learn.
Mega Mergers Apprenticeship
Program is a youth development program
that focuses on educating youths in the
areas of basic business development, effective communication and sustainability
(environmental, economic and social sustainability). They recently partnered with
Bahamas Rowing Boats and its President,
Jason Williams. One of Bahamas Rowing
Boats’ goals is to encourage people of all
Rashad Penn with his winning entry.
ages to embrace and care for our natural
resources, to develop healthy daily habits
and to embrace the thousands of adventures that await them along the waterways of The Bahamas. This makes the
partnership with Mega Mergers ideal as
students were offered a unique opportunity to reinforce what was taught during
their short summer eco consciousness
and responsible business practices training talk.
Throughout the Mega Mergers
Program students were taught how to
transform discarded materials into viable
resalable products so as to reduce what
enters our land fill and create a stream of
revenue with which to sustain them. At
the next stage of the program they will
be taught to row in an effort to help them
truly buy into the idea of protecting our
country and doing their part to ensure
that we are able to sustain ourselves as
a nation for future generations. Both Rashad Penn and Mega Mergers
are dedicated supporters of the BNT and
have participated in the Wine and Art
Festival on multiple occasions. We congratulate them and look forward to their
participation in next year’s festival.
Mega Mergers and Bahamas Rowing Boats with their winning entry.
TrustNotes - Volume 10, Issue 14 - November, 2015 5
Education
Mangrove Cay
Discovery Clubs Thrive
Steffon Evans, BNT Education Officer, presented former Guardian members with their
final badges before their transition into the Navigators level.
BNT Faith-based
Outreach Program engages
Zion Baptist Church
The BNT booth at Zion Baptist Church.
Since its inception in 2014, BNT’s Faith-based Outreach
Program has engaged diverse audiences of adult worshippers in
environmental stewardship. On Sunday, September 27th, 2015,
the education team at the BNT visited Zion Baptist Church
where a booth was set up to engage with attendees of the 8 a.m.
and 11a.m. services. The church also allowed a brief talk on
caring for nature which referenced the creation week featured
in the book of Genesis. BNT’s Discovery Club has a culture
of students that are intelligent, motivated
and actively engaged with the community. In Mangrove Cay, Andros, this culture is definitely maintained with Burnt
Rock Primary managing the Explorer and
Guardian levels while Mangrove Cay
High oversees the Navigators level. On
September 28th, 2015, BNT Education
Officer Steffon Evans visited Mangrove
Cay to engage with Discovery Club leaders and students and returned hopeful of
the future success of the program. “The
Mangrove Cay Discovery Club students
were fantastic! Not only were we able to
hear back from current members, but their
support of the program led to many more
students from both schools coming on
board”, said Steffon. The BNT is especially
happy to see the positive progress of the
Mangrove Cay Discovery Club chapters.
TrustNotes - Volume 10, Issue 14 - November 2015 6
Science
Abaco Coral Reef Rehabilitation
Dr. Craig Dahlgren.
As part of the Reversing the Decline of
Bahamian Coral Reefs program, coral reef
rehabilitation activities were conducted
on Abaco from October 9-18, 2015. These
activities follow a preliminary scouting
visit in May 2015 and previous work on
Abaco over the past decade. Former work
had identified several priority activities
for October 2015, including:
1. Transplanting corals to Mermaid’s
Reef to increase coral diversity at the site
and promote coral growth on reef balls.
This would improve educational opportunities at the site and help improve the
condition of the reef.
2. Establishing coral nurseries in the
Pelican Cays Land and Sea Park (Sandy
Cay Reef) and Fowl Cay National Park to
promote recovery of staghorn coral at both
sites using remnant populations available
from Sandy Cay Reef.
3. Monitor existing coral reef rehabilitation activities being conducted between
Sandy Point and Gorda Cay in southern
Abaco.
Each of these priority activities were
conducted in October 2015.
From October 9 to October 14, Lindy
Knowles and Craig Dahlgren constructed
six coral nurseries (“coral tree” design)
capable of growing up to 50 corals per
nursery unit, for a total of 300 corals. Three
nurseries were deployed in the Pelican
Cays Land and Sea Park (PCLSP) near
Lynyard Cay, and three in the Fowl Cay
National Park (FCNP). Nursery locations
were selected based on their depth, bottom type (sandy bottom where a 4’ sand
anchor could be screwed in), and shelter
from wave activity (in the lee of a cay in
the PCLSP and leeward of the reef crest
in the FCNP). To populate the nursery,
pieces of staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, were collected from eight different
colonies in the backreef zone of Sandy Cay
Reef in the Pelican Cays Land and Sea
Park. This species was used to populate
the nurseries because it was once one of
the most important reef building corals
in The Bahamas and wider Caribbean
region, but is now one of the most endangered, with population declines exceeding
90% throughout its range (it is currently
listed as a critically endangered species by
the IUCN and under the US Endangered
Species Act). Sandy Cay Abaco has the
only known remnant populations in the
central Abaco region. Pieces of coral collected from Sandy Cay Reef were cut into
3-5 cm long fragments and hung in the
nursery using 250 lb. test monofilament
longline.
This work was conducted by Craig
Dahlgren, BNT Science Officer - Lindy
Knowles, Friends of The Environment
- Olivia Patterson Maura, Cassandra
Abraham, “Island Investigators” students,
Disney – Andy Stamper, Scott Martin,
Tanya Kamerman, Alison Corwin, Christy
Macdonald, Eric Grunthaner and Larry
Boles. Additional support was provided by Bahamas National Trust staff,
particularly Agnessa Lundy, Friends of
The Environment, and Patrick Roberts
Jr. Funding was provided by Disney, a
Reverse the Decline grant from the Disney
Conservation Fund to The Bahamas
National Trust, The Atlantis Blue Project
Foundation and a generous donation from
Mr. Kris Colvin.
TrustNotes - Volume 10, Issue 14 - November, 2015 7
National Parks
The Leon Levy Native
Plant Preserve
continues in its efforts to
increase Biodiversity
Arlington Johnson and Hermane Exament with recently felled casuarina.
When you fly over the Bahamas,
drive along our coastal roads, or visit a
beach, the tree that stands out the most
is the evergreen Casuarina equisetifolia,
also known as casuarina or Australian
pine. Many think this plant is native
to the Bahamas due to its dominance
across miles of landscape, but in fact it
originates from Australia and parts of
Southern Asia.
Casuarina is what scientists refer to
a non-native invasive species. Invasive
species are those who in their non-native
range, outcompete natives and reduce
overall biodiversity, often taking over
entire ecosystems. Invasive plants frequently are the first to recruit to disturbed
areas. It is the reason this species regularly forms dense stands adjacent to roads
where vegetation has been cut underneath power lines. Along coasts, native
species have deep spreading interconnected root systems that help to prevent
erosion. In contrast, casuarina contributes
to erosion when its shallow root system is
unearthed during storm events. It is an
unfortunate example of how destructive
a single species can be to biodiversity and
ecosystem health.
As an organization whose primary
mission is to promote native plants of
The Bahamas, casuarina is enemy number one here at The Preserve. Since the
inception of the park, efforts have been
aimed at eradicating this species from
the 25-acre property and reducing the
spread and range of casuarina throughout Eleuthera.
continued on page 8
TrustNotes - Volume 10, Issue 14 - November, 2015 8
National Parks
continued from page 7
Our success in these efforts is due in
part to having the necessary staff and tools
in place to not only cut down the casuarina, but to reuse as much of it as possible.
The main tools utilized are chainsaws and
a chipper which we use to make wood
chips for all of the foot paths. A sawmill
is also used to make planks of wood for
benches and signs.
The casuarina removal program has
also led staff to learn new skills:
• Arboriculture
• Wood engraving
• Carpentry
• Chainsaw, Sawmill and Chipper
operations.
With continuous removal efforts and
accompanying educational programs, we
are doing our part in minimizing the
impact of casuarina on our native flora
and the general environment.
Brian Smith mulches The Preserve’s pathway.
RBDF Officer pays
tribute to past
BNT Park Warden
Peggy Hall
Matthew Gibbs, RBDF, generously gave our Exuma
Park office a wonderful portrait of past BNT park warden
Peggy Hall to appropriately grace the walls of a space that
she called home for many years. An avid boater, environmental advocate and businesswoman, Peggy set in
motion the activities which have made the Exuma Cays
Land and Sea Park what it is today. Her primary goal
during her time as park warden was to make the park
accessible to Bahamians and recruit and train as many
Bahamian park wardens as possible.
TrustNotes - Volume 10, Issue 14 - November, 2015 9
Staff Highlight
Steven Wright Park Warden Steven Wright has been working with the
BNT in Nassau for the past eight years. According to Steven,
life with The Bahamas National Trust has taught him to respect
the environment and shown him that he can be an agent for
change. His hobbies include car mechanics, fishing, listening to music and problem solving. The Desert Rose, which is
delicate and beautiful when in full bloom is Steven’s favourite plant at The Retreat. His most memorable moment was
on a recent expedition to explore a leak coming from the
ceiling of the storage room at the BNT’s main office where,
after climbing up, he was greeted by a six foot Bahamian
boa. Startled, he fell out of the roof but quickly regained
his composure and helped to capture yet another reptilian
neighbour. Steven lives by the saying “a man without a goal
is like a clock without hands”.
TrustNotes - Volume 10, Issue 14 - November, 2015 10
BNT BULLETIN
Membership Highlight
Giovanni Wilkinson
BNT member and volunteer Giovanni Wilkinson
has been a strong supporter
of the organization for several years and, when asked to
become an Events Committee
member last year, graciously
accepted. He has since been
an invaluable asset to the
committee and, even with a
busy schedule, finds the time
to help BNT raise funds to
assist in covering the costs of
managing and maintaining
the National Park system in
The Bahamas.
“My interest regarding
BNT started out simply wanting to help an organization
whose aims and goals are so closely aligned with my own. After
volunteering for a few of the events, I ended up becoming more
involved in the preparation and organization of these events; a
role I thoroughly enjoy”.
Event Calendar
Jollification
Friday, November 20 - 22, 2015 - Nassau
Festival Noel
Friday, December 4, 2015 - Grand Bahama
Art for the Parks
Friday, December 11 - 13 , 2015 - Abaco
Bahamas National Trust
P. O. Box N-4105, Nassau, The Bahamas
Tel: 242-393-1317
www.bnt.bs | [email protected]