Freeport, Grand Bahama – Over the last several months, nine Grand Bahama teams collected, planted, and cared for thousands of propagules as part of the Mangrove Mania competition, which officially kicked off on May 14th. It was then that Mrs Ann Marie Davis, wife of Prime Minister the Hon. Philip Davis rang the bell to get the competition underway. Mrs Davis was back at the mangrove nursery this past Saturday for the competition’s finalé event.
St. George’s High School GGYA took home the $2,000.00 grand prize for collecting the most red mangroves that were healthy, established, and well-maintained in the amount of 3,073 seedlings. EARTHCARE nabbed the second-place finish, and Lucayan Groves. received $500.00. Backyard nurseries collected over 14,000 propagules and added them to the mangrove nursery for 32,990.
Mrs Davis said, “What they all did together was to help mangrove restoration partners by collecting and harvesting over 14,000 red mangrove propagules in the last three months.” She remarked that this was impressive as they exceeded the goal of 10,000 propagules for Grand Bahama. “Mangroves are a powerful carbon sink, and we just hope no one cuts them down to release all the good stuff they have collected and stored.”
Mrs Ann Marie Davis, Office of the Spouse, and Ginger Moxey, Minister for Grand Bahama, presented the grand prize to St George’s GGYA team leaders. Also pictured are Rashema Ingraham, Executive Director (WKB); Rupert Hayward, Executive Director (GBPA) & President (Blue Action Lab); Joseph Darville, Chairman (STB)
Mangrove Mania is a project facilitated by Waterkeepers Bahamas (WKB), Earthcare, Coral Vita, Save the Bays, and Blue Action Lab. The competition is a community-based outreach program developed to incentivize the community to work together to source local mangrove propagules for future planting and restoration efforts.
“The goal of a minimum of 30,000 mangroves within the nursery by the end of this year has already been exceeded thanks to the outstanding work of these teams,” said Waterkeepers Bahamas’ Programs & Outreach Facilitator, Andurah Daxon. “Because of their dedication and commitment to the process, I see this becoming a much larger project, which means faster restoration for mangrove forests devastated by hurricane Dorian.”
Mrs Ann Marie Davis is presented with a plaque from Rashema Ingraham, Executive Director (WKB)
The other participating teams included Citizen Scientists; Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board; Freeport Harbour Company Groves; Team Super Grow; Walter Parker Primary Mangrove Mania Pacers; East Enders. Organizers are also grateful for individuals who were not participating in the competition but still collected and grew mangroves to help reach the goal.
“What impressed me the most was to see we had a team from a primary school involved in this,” said Mrs Davis. “As young as they are, they have learned so much and are an example.” She continued, “I know this will go much further than it did this year.”
Walter Parker Mangrove Mania Pacers accept a plaque from Mrs Anne Marie Davis and Andurah Daxon, Programs & Outreach Facilitator (WKB)
Teams were assessed throughout the competition and guided on managing the seedlings to ensure good survival rates. Participants were required to safely collect mangrove propagules from local beaches or mangrove locations designated by the project partners. Training sessions were conducted to ensure team members were thoroughly versed in the collection process.
“Some team members were nervous at the start, but once their seedlings began to sprout, there was no stopping them,” Daxon explained. “It was wonderful to observe the progress, especially the school students. We would like to see more schools involved and possibly have this be part of a curriculum.”
Members of team EARTHCARE receive their 2nd place cheque prize from Mrs Ann Marie Davis (Office of the Spouse) at the Mangrove Mania finalé event at Coral Vita, Grand Bahama.
The competition had major support from its platinum sponsor, The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), along with silver sponsorship from The Grand Bahama Development Co. Ltd. and Clean Marine. Bahamas Protected Areas Fund and Builders Initiative Foundation have partially funded the overall mangrove restoration project.
Lucayan Groves took home $500 as the third-place finisher. Mangrove Mania teams collected 14,000 red mangrove propagules and cared for them in backyard nurseries across Grand Bahama.
Outplanting exercises for all the mangroves in the nursery are scheduled for November and December.