Picture of the New Officers left to right:
Geoffrey Andrews, Deputy President, Simon Townend, Honorary Treasurer, Janet Johnson, BNT President, Alistair Chisnall Honorary Secretary.
The Bahamas National Trust held its Annual General Meeting and Spring Council April 27 -29 to elect the Council and Officers for the year and discuss the business of the BNT.
At the meetings on Friday and Saturday, the Council review the first draft of the BNT’s Strategic Plan for 2018 -2022. The plan will guide the work of the organization for the next five years. Also reviewed at the meeting was an overarching By Law for the National Parks that will be the model for creating individual By Laws for the 32 National Parks.
The BNT membership elected 14 members to serve on the 29-member council with the other 14 members representing government representatives and major scientific organizations and universities. This year the elected members of Council are Geoffrey Andrews, Glenn Bannister, Alistair Chisnall, Kevin Cartwright, Colin Higgs, Andy Fowler, Lawrence Glinton, Janet Johnson, Pericles Maillis, Neil McKinney, Karin Sanchez, Patrick Thomson, and Barbara Thompson. On Saturday, the Council elected and appointed the officers for the year. The New officers are Janet Johnson, President, Geoffrey Andrews, Deputy President, Alistair Chisnall, Honorary Secretary and Simon Townend, Honorary Treasurer.
Ms. Johnson currently serves as the Director in the Office of the Minister of Tourism. As a veteran MOT employee of thirty-seven years she has spent twenty-six years abroad representing The Islands of The Bahamas in various leadership positions. Janet now applies this vast experience and marketing prowess in her everyday work managing a variety of interesting assignments and projects and working along with the Minister in various UNWTO initiatives.
“I am honored to be President of the Bahamas National Trust. Our national parks preserve the unique nature of our islands for Bahamians. These parks are important for biodiversity and serve as outdoor classrooms for 12,000 students annually. The parks also provide tremendous potential for family recreation and to support tourism. The staff and the BNT Council see these parks as a destination for visitors to our islands who want to experience their natural beauty. In order to offer an exceptional visitor experience, we will be working to improve infrastructure and management at key national parks across our islands. We are hoping to endear Bahamians and residents to the National parks, and encourage them to support our work by becoming members of the BNT.” Said Ms. Johnson.
The BNT is a non-governmental, non-profit, membership organisation working to protect Bahamian natural resources by building a network of national parks and promoting environmental stewardship.