From Mission Blue Hope Spot and Ocean CREST Alliance website: http://mission-blue.org/2014/04/ocean-crest-alliance-bahamas-hope-spot-within-a-hope-spot/

"Our Long Island Marine Managed Area (LIMMA)  initiative plays a significant role nationally and internationally in the design and development of sustainable Marine Protected Areas (MPAs.) We collaborate locally with the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to help bring the Bahamas’ goal of 20% protection by 2020 to fruition. Having sailed the world’s oceans and now anchored firmly as part of the Bahamas community, the Ocean Crest Alliance has achieved national and international success beyond our expectations in our first two years.

GIS MAP – Garin Davidison UF Conservation Clinic

In today’s world, participatory tools for engaging stakeholders in proposals for locally Managed Marine Areas are designed very differently, depending upon where they are carried out. Ocean CREST Alliance has initiated the development of a proposal for a 215,000 acre Marine Managed Area (MMA) on and around Long Island; one of the “Family Islands” of the Bahamas. This proposal builds on an existing network of marine reserves in the Bahamas, and represents an approach of integrating community based priorities for marine protection and management into a nationally and internationally supported network.

The proposed Long Island Marine Managed Area will represent a range of habitats including blue holes, reefs, wetland complexes and a diverse bank habitat as well as the spawning area for a commercially important species, the Nassau Grouper. The potential designation of the LIMMA would further both Bahamian and international biodiversity conservation goals, increase local population well being and aid in the recovery of depleted fisheries. These continue to be jeopardized by a variety of factors, including exploitation, global climate impacts and pollution (Pomerance et al. 2013.)"

To Learn More click HERE and HERE.

More Information:

Bahamian Community Doing Good For Ocean Conservation (19 Nov 2014)