Young Marine Explorers: A case study in capacity building through conservation

The Bahamas a Small Island Developing State, like many island nations struggles to manage their natural resources. Bahamians depend heavily on the marine environment as it drives the countries tourism based economy. Despite... [ view full abstract ]

The Bahamas a Small Island Developing State, like many island nations struggles to manage their natural resources. Bahamians depend heavily on the marine environment as it drives the countries tourism based economy. Despite the dependency on the marine environment, unsustainable behaviour such as clearing of coastal plants, filling of wetlands, poor waste management, overfishing and the illegal harvesting of marine resources has resulted in the degradation of marine resources that threatens the economy, human health and wellbeing. One of the underlying problems driving this unsustainable behaviour is the poor educational output of students graduating from Government schools within The Bahamas. Over the last 20 years the graduating average in the Bahamas has been a D. Young Marine Explorers (YME) a Bahamian non-profit organization has designed a citizen science program that supports the standardized high school science curriculum and builds human capacity intended to reduce resource degradation. YME develops an appreciation for the environment within youth from underserved communities by providing environmental education, fostering emotional connections with the environment and inspiring an internal locus of control. YME is building the next generation of environmental leaders in The Bahamas, which are students from underserved communities that are prepared to take on the pressing social and environmental challenges facing The Bahamas. Over the past five years the increase in the organizations hours of impact within underserved communities shows that there is both a need and interest for such a program. This study will discuss both the accomplishments and challenges of the organization and how citizen science programs offered by YME are capable of providing valuable information on Bahamian biodiversity, filling a much-needed gap in the existing conservation efforts within the country.