Ecosystem-based Development for Andros Island, The Bahamas: A Policy Review

Presented by Shenique Albury-Smith

Shenique Albury-Smith

The Nature Conservancy’s Bahamas Program is working with The Natural Capital Project (NatCap) to support the design of the Andros Island Master Plan with spatially detailed assessments of the current ecosystem service benefits provided to the Bahamian people, and the ecosystem service values accruing to specific sectors and communities under alternative options for future development. As a part of this process TNC and NatCap are working with the project’s Technical Advisory Committee and other stakeholder groups to understand policy and development issues and to map how people currently use terrestrial, coastal and marine areas of Andros Island. The compilation and review of statute law, regulations and policies is helping to determine the full range of legislation that supports a particular human activity in The Bahamas in general and Andros in particular. Through the policy scoping efforts over 100 documents have been compiled and catalogued shedding light on the current gaps in policy and also helping to craft several future development scenarios that will lead to an ecosystem-based development masterplan for Andros.