World Wildlife Day celebrates the world’s flora and fauna, and this year’s theme is encouraging us to focus on critically endangered species to generate the awareness, help, and support we need to save them.

The Bahamas is home to many beautiful and diverse species – ones that play a significant role in our culture, economy, and history. And this World Wildlife Day, we’re highlighting some of the key Bahamian species and ecosystems that are endangered or threatened and that we’re working to protect. We hope you’ll learn a little something and be inspired to help us in this battle – a battle to preserve some of the most iconic species in The Bahamas for now and tomorrow.

The Bahama Warbler is an endemic species found exclusively in the pine forests of Abaco and Grand Bahama. Previously thought to be the same as the migratory Yellow-throated Warbler, it was elevated to the species in 2011. In 2019, Category 5 Hurricane Dorian hit those two islands, destroying almost 77% of the pine forest on Grand Bahama. The Bahama Warbler lost a significant portion of its habitat, and hasn’t been seen in Grand Bahama since. As a result, it is now listed on the IUCN Redlist as an endangered species, and we need your help to save it.

Research to save the Bahama Warbler is currently underway as a part of our Empowering Communities for Conservation Project. This project aims to train community members of Abaco to become community conservationists and help us monitor the Bahama Warbler’s remaining pine habitat. To find out more about what happened to this special bird and other endemic species as a result of Hurricane Dorian, read our press release on our “State of the Environment: Post-Dorian Report.”

Our beloved queen conch is a culinary delicacy in The Bahamas. It’s used in a variety of native dishes and is one of the quintessential representations of Bahamian culture. Its beautiful white, pink, and gold shell is used in local craft-making and it is an important product in our fisheries industry. These aspects make conch integral to the Bahamian cultural identity and way of life – making the depletion of this resource even more devastating. But high demand and overfishing threaten the very existence of this iconic creature.

In 2013, the BNT launched our “Conchservation” campaign to spread awareness about the plight of the Queen Conch and encourage everyone to take action before it’s too late. Part of that campaign included the debut of “Conch Gone,” a music video produced in collaboration with several partners, sponsors, and many talented Bahamian artists. Our work to save the Queen Conch is ongoing and has since resulted in other initiatives such as the Community Based Conch Management in The Family Islands Project, also called IDB Conch.”

When you think of The Bahamas, you think of the ocean and diving. One of the main attractions that brings people to our shores is our crystal clear turquoise waters and the magnificent marine species that inhabit them. Snorkeling and diving have long been popular recreational activities, and some of the most breathtaking pieces of beauty one can see when doing these underwater activities are vibrant, colorful coral reefs. In recent years, however, a threat has entered our waters and affected our corals. Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, or SCTLD, came to prominence in Florida in 2014; but the first instance of it in The Bahamas wasn’t recorded until 2019, when it was found on reefs surrounding Grand Bahama. This fast-spreading disease destroys the living tissue of stony corals – which are literally the building blocks of reef ecosystems – demolishing thousands of years of growth.

There is no sure treatment for SCTLD, but research and transplanting mechanisms have been deployed in Florida to save reefs before they’re fully affected. Part of the work the BNT is currently undertaking focuses on raising awareness about SCTLD so we can save the coral reefs of The Bahamas.

Mangroves play an incomparable role in the fight against climate change. We like to think of them as climate change superheroes! Aside from absorbing massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, they also protect low-lying areas like The Bahamas from surges and waves during storms. Mangroves worldwide are under threat, though, and many of The Bahamas’ mangroves were destroyed during Hurricane Dorian. For a country that exists at or below sea-level like ourselves, this leaves us particularly vulnerable to increasingly severe storms in the face of climate change.

But we’ve been working with environmental friends and partners to restore our mangrove forests. Recently, we highlighted mangroves as part of World Wetlands Day, and before that we held several mangrove plantings as part of restoration activities and projects across the country.

To learn more about the damage that was done to mangroves as a result of Hurricane Dorian, read our press release on our “State of the Environment: Post-Dorian Report.” And to read about our most recent mangrove planting and restoration activities, check out “Celebrating World Wetlands Day by Planting Mangroves at Bonefish Pond National Park.”