Ecotourism Is Something the Bahamas Can Capitalize On

Ecotourism Is Something the Bahamas Can Capitalize On
By K. Nancoo-Russell

The regional meeting of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) was held last week with an ecotourism workshop hosted by the International Ecotourism Society at the Pelican Bay Hotel and a digital photography workshop at the Rand Nature Center.

The SCSCB is a non-profit organization working to conserve the birds of the Caribbean and their habitats through research, education, conservation action and capacity building.

Its 18th regional meeting took place over the course of five days under the theme "Connecting Nature Through Birds," and brought together delegates from across the world.

SCSCB Media Relations Officer Dr. Leo Douglas explained the workshop focused on making people aware and interested in the areas of eco tourism. "This is a very, very important area because, as you know, the traditional tourism image in the Caribbean has been sun, sand sea sex and drugs," he said.

Douglas noted that eco tourism is presently one of the fastest growing areas of tourism in the world, and said it is something Caribbean countries can capitalize on.

"We are uniquely placed not only because we are close to North America, close to Canada, we speak English, but also we have a lot of local resource people. We have a lot of skills, we have the raw material in terms of the bio-diversity and really getting people involved is something which can be very important for the local economies of many islands," he said