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Friends of the Environment E-Newsletter
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| Established in 1988 |
January 2017 |
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FRIENDS Mission: To preserve and protect Abaco's marine and terrestrial environments in order to achieve sustainable living for the wildlife and people of Abaco, Bahamas.
Kenyon Centre Vision: S
upport the work of FRIENDS by facilitating scientific research and outreach, and promoting sustainable development in Abaco, Bahamas.
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January Education: Tiny Tots!
Cassandra Abraham speaking to fishermen in Grand Cay at a community meeting.
This year
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our education program started off in Grand Cay, Abaco. Our Education Officer spent two days there, teaching the importance of marine protected areas and sustainable fishing practices in partnership with The Bahamas National Trust. This was our first visit to Grand Cay since summer camp! This time however, the audience was much different. The meeting was geared towards fishermen and other community members.
Students from Change Preparatory School explored our Nature Trail
This
month, we also hosted three school groups at FRIENDS from ages 2 through 12. Our after-school clubs are also well on their way! Discovery Club will be doing a Land Crab Badge, Island Investigators is continuing their Garbage Index of Marsh Harbour, and Sea Beans is getting up to some fun adventures and discoveries. We are looking forward to a great year!
Check out our
Facebook page for more exciting photos.
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The Kenyon Centre:
Gardens are Growing!
Left: Fever grass (AKA Lemon grass), Right: Life Leaf
We have started our Bush Medicine, Pollinating and Edible gardens! The gardens have been planted with local examples of plants in each category. The plants we are using are either native or naturalized and have some use to Bahamian wildlife and people. Feel free to stop by and take a look! If anyone out there has other plants that you would like to donate, we would be happy to receive them. The gardens complement the existing nature trail on the property which is about a 1/3 mile walk through native coppice habitat.
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Reef Ball Events:
February 4 - Abaco Inn, Hope Town
February 11 - Mangoes, Marsh Harbour
It's time for some fun and philanthropy! Join us at the Reef Ball!
This is a chance for us to celebrate all the amazing experiences and achievements from the past year, and to celebrate YOU - the people who make it all possible. Each event is limited to 100 seats, so please reserve early (call us at 367-0721). We will be having a silent auction, live auction, live music by New Entry, and more! Time to break out those dancing shoes!
Check out our Facebook events for more details, and info on some of our auction items:
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Baby
sawfish birth in Andros!
We thought you might like to see this rare video of a sawfish being born!
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Connect with these Apps
TURT: Use this app to report sea turtle sightings. Once you've downloaded and connected with the app you can submit future data while you are offline (it will upload when you next connect to wifi), so data is not required to use it!
Apple App Store
Google Play
Fish Rules: Relevant for coastal United States and The Bahamas. Have local fishing regulations at your finger tips so you can be sure you're in compliance. Don't get caught unaware!
Visit their website and download.
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Abaco's Environment in Photos :
Record Facebook post highlights community interest in sand dunes and seaweed!
As of January 30th the post reached 7,404 people and was shared 56 times!
These photos (taken on Elbow Cay) help demonstrate
why it's important to leave seaweed on the beach. As waves bring seaweed ashore and it accumulates, the wind then covers the seaweed over with sand which helps stabilize the beach and protect the dune, eventually adding to the dune itself as plants grow over it. Seaweed also provides a valuable source of nutrients to beach plants in an otherwise nutrient poor environment.
For more information on Abaco's environment:
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