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Notes, thoughts and happenings from Edgar Fortune, GICS Founder and CEO
New Partnership!
GICS is proud to announce a new partnership with WEEFCA - the West End Eco Fishing Camp in the Bahamas.
Conservation & Restoration of the Bahamian Island, Sandy Cay
by Edgar Fortune
The Exuma islands are located in the Bahamas -- 35 miles south-east of Nassau or about 90 minutes by air from Miami. The Exu-mas are a collection of over 365 cays and islands stretching over 120 miles with the two main islands of Great Exuma and Little Exuma. The total population consists of approxi-mately 7,500 people. The people rely on farming, fishing and tourism for their livelihood. These once obscure, small islands are now a very popular tourism destination in the Caribbean. ...(Click here to read the full article originally published in the PNW Herpetological Society Newsletter)
Ricky Returns to Bimini
Thanks to your generous donations and a grant we have raised the necessary funds to send Ricardo Escobar to Bimini Island for 4 weeks to conduct further research and conservation efforts on behalf of the Bimini Boa. He'll be there for most of April 2010. Update, Ricky has captured an implanted ten boas with radio transmitters.
Dec. 30 GICS just received a grant from the Rufford Foundation in London. This will allow us to begin phase II of the removal of the invasive Australian pine from Sandy Cay, Bahamas in early spring 2011. Phase II of the project is complete. May 18-28 We completed 80-90% of the project.
From May 8-22, 2012, GICS was in the Bahamas on Sandy cay doing close to the final phase of this restoration project. We also did two school out-reach programs. We are so close to completing this project that we don't need to bring chainsaws back. What a relief that is!
August, 2013
"Some of the most important lessons children are taught in life were from caring parents, teachers and mentors who passed their knowledge and wisdom on to the next generation."
Keith and Linda Cooper, WEEFCA Founders, the Board of Directors, volunteers, police officers and partners all share one common goal and that is to reach out to the children before they turn to a life of crime and drug abuse.
http://www.weefca.com/
Conservation Spotlight - The Mangrove Forrest
Known as the "Rainforests by the Sea" Mangrove Forests are vital for the health and survival of island ecosystems between 32°N and 38°S around the world. Once covering over 36 million hectares - today less than half that amount remains.
Flora and Fauna rely heavily on the mangroves for survival; over 75% of tropical commercial fish spend some portion of their life cycle dependant on the forests. Whether it is their falling leaves providing nutrients or their roots below providing a safe haven for adults and eggs their is an inextricable link between the mangroves and the species which depend on them.
As the Mangroves disappear ultimately so do the species that rely upon them.
GICS is proud to support and endorse the work being done by MAP - the Mangrove Action Project. For more information please visit their site as well as refer to the paper written by Alfredo Quarto, MAP Director, describing the Mangrove Forest, the benefits it brings and the dangers that surround it's very existence.
The largest remaining tract of mangrove forest in the world is found in the Sundarbans, on the edge of the Bay of Bengal, stretching from SW Bangladesh to SE India.
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