Friends of the Environment (FRIENDS) is embarking on a very exciting programme in Abaco designed to conserve and restore tidal flow to a blocked creek in Cross Harbour, located on the southwest portion of Great Abaco.
The project is expected to begin in April.
A diverse group of environmentalists will be recruited to assist with this project, including a contingent of dedicated scientists, a variety of nonprofit Bahamian organizations, local students and interested citizens.
Lead scientist for the project, Dr. Craig Layman, said the project will be a creek restoration model, “not only for Abaco, not only for The Bahamas, not only for the Caribbean, but for the world.”
The restoration will be accomplished by removing the causeway road to Cross Harbour, placing culverts in the roadbed to allow for unrestricted water flow and then replacing the road.
This work will be completed with donated machinery beginning April 7, and continuing for 10 days.
Friends will be hosting students and interested volunteers, who will be conducting the scientific monitoring.
Students and teachers from four local schools have already committed to spending at least a day in Cross Harbour.
Organizers of the project call this initiative “positive conservation” because it is a win-win situation for everybody.
They agree that much of the environmental movement is focused on “what people can’t do.” However, this project will not interfere with fishing, boating or the general use of Cross Harbour.
More than 40 acres of wetlands will be reclaimed and put back into use as a habitat for conch, a large variety of fish and crawfish.
Cross Harbour will be scientifically monitored before and after the restoration, so that the changes that take place can be documented.
Organizers note that nearly 200 fish have already been tagged in the area so their movements from below the blockage into the restored area can be tracked.
This, added Dr. Layman, will not only serve to demonstrate the increase in sea life populations and the improved general health of the area, but will also allow the project to be a model for future creek restorations.
FRIENDS plans to use Cross Harbour as a stepping-stone to larger projects in Abaco and around The Bahamas.
FRIENDS have already identified several sites in Abaco for future restorations, including Stinky Pond north of Marsh Harbour and the causeway connecting Great Abaco to Little Abaco.
Partnering in this initiative are: The Nature Conservancy – Bahamas Programme; The Bahamas National Trust, Ministry of Works; Acorn Alcinda Foundation and Yale University.
They are expected to gather local feedback and thoughts on the restoration.
FRIENDS, is a Marsh Harbour based nonprofit organization that serves the Abaco region, whose mission is the preservation and protection of Abaco’s terrestrial and marine environments in order to achieve sustainable living for the wildfire and the people of Abaco.
By BARBARA WALKIN, Senior FN Reporter
