By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday said the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025 will allow Bahamian professionals to take the lead in managing the country’s protected areas while ensuring millions in environmental funding are effectively used.

Opening debate in the House of Assembly, Mr Davis said the measure corrects a major flaw in the 2014 Act, which prevented the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (BPAF) from using its money to pay staff or cover administrative costs.

“The Fund could disburse grants. It could finance projects,” he said. “But it could not hire the marine biologists, the park rangers, the conservation officers, the project managers, the data analysts, and the community liaisons needed to actually implement the ambitious conservation agenda we have set. The amendment before us today corrects this problem.”

The bill explicitly empowers the BPAF to employ staff and use conditional donations to fund salaries and related expenses. It also allows the board to accept targeted grants from international partners for specific projects.

According to the bill’s notes, the change allows funds managed by the BPAF to be used “for salaries, operating and administrative costs” tied to research, conservation, and management of protected areas.

Mr Davis said the reform is vital to meeting the country’s commitments under the $300 million debt conversion for marine conservation finalised last year, which refinanced national debt while unlocking $132 million in new funding for environmental projects.

He said the amendment will help create new environmental jobs across the islands and reduce dependence on foreign consultants. “You cannot protect 6.8 million hectares of marine protected areas with volunteers and good intentions alone,” he said. “Effective conservation requires dedicated professionals. And I can guarantee you that no one will be more dedicated to protecting our environment than the citizens whose lives and the lives of their loved ones are inextricably linked to our nation.”

Mr Davis called the bill part of a broader effort to strengthen environmental protection, noting that The Bahamas has already designated 17 percent of its national waters as marine protected areas and aims to expand that to 30 percent.

Opposition leader Michael Pintard noted that the bill addresses the practical challenge long faced by the Department of Marine Resources and Forestry.

He said one of his concerns when he served as Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources was that, despite the increase in technical professionals, there were not enough personnel to police and manage the country’s vast environmental zones.

Mr Pintard said the Free National Movement consulted past and present heads of the Bahamas National Trust about the bill. Quoting former BNT Executive Director Eric Carey, he said: “This amendment is in fact an important one that will allow BPAF — the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund — to build capacity, especially within the Department of Marine Resources and Forestry. These two government agencies have significant protected area management responsibilities but limited to zero capacity to do so.

“The amendment relating to the salaries and expenses corrects the debilitating restrictions in the original act which severely restricts the fund’s ability to pay expenses and especially grow staff. Without the amendments to allow the payment of salaries and certain core costs, under the existing and future projects, the fund will continue to be severely restricted in its ability to execute and implement such programmes and projects. This would prevent us, The Bahamas, from achieving both national and international goals.”