Thirty environmental professionals from across The Bahamas participated in a Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) Training Workshop for the Bahamas Project for Marine Conservation (BPMC). The week-long session, hosted by the BPMC Project Management Unit at the Office of the Prime Minister, focused on expanding assessment efforts for 70 named Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the country.
In attendance were representatives from the BPMC project partners: the Bahamas National Trust (BNT), the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), the Department for Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP), the Bahamas Forestry Unit, and the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (BPAF). The group consisted of monitoring and evaluation specialists, project managers, fisheries officers, park managers, wardens, and planners.
Monitoring & Evaluation Consultant at the Office of the Prime Minister, Jacklyn Chisholm-Lightbourne, touted the efficiency of the tool, stating that it will allow those working collectively on the project to get a detailed understanding of the status of the MPAs in the country.
“The METT allows us to assess our current progress and plan strategically for the future,” she noted. “This week, park representatives who are on the ground daily are here sharing their firsthand expertise with us.”
During sessions, the group identified and assessed MPA threats, breaking them into historical, ongoing, and potential categories. The partners reviewed all recent documentation and information for each area, noting the progress made thus far and areas where implementation is needed to ensure the areas remain protected. The majority of the group identified poaching, waste management, Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD), coral bleaching, marine debris, and invasive species as universal threats across most MPAs. Additionally, vessel groundings, unsustainable tourism practices, illegal immigration, coral damage, climate change impacts, and unlawful marine activities were found to contribute to significant issues affecting biodiversity and ecosystem health at the sites.
Rich Wilson, the METT Consultant with Seatone Consulting, explained that his first management effectiveness work in The Bahamas was in 2013, where he conducted management effectiveness planning with the BNT, one of the BPMC’s current project partners. The METT for the current project builds on data collected in previous years and starts the groundwork for the sites that have not yet been evaluated. Wilson noted that these types of assessments have been conducted in The Bahamas since 2009.“This work is about evaluating how effective the management of these sites has been to date and how the entities that manage these places can improve management over time. This year,
we’re evaluating 70 sites between March and October, so it’s a big heavy lift,” Wilson continued.
“We’re using a well-established tool that covers the entire management cycle—from planning,
management, and implementation to monitoring and evaluation—with the ultimate goal of
improving management over time.”
The BPMC, also referred to as the Bahamas Debt Conversion Project for Marine Conservation (BDCPMC), is an innovative initiative that refinanced USD 300 million in savings from The Bahamas’ external debt to generate USD 124 million in dedicated funding for ocean conservation and the improved management of the country’s 70 MPAs. The Bahamas has agreed to use these savings to invest in this 15-year project, which supports MPAs, biodiversity, conservation, sustainable livelihoods, and the long-term resilience of the country’s marine and coastal ecosystems.
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