Staff writer Eunice Nisbett
CIBC FIRSTCARIBBEAN CONTRIBUTES TO PRESERVING THE SAN SALVADOR IGUANA – Bank partners with conservation organization on the first of three projects in the Caribbean
Bridgetown, Barbados, May 17, 2012- An important step forward has been taken in the protection of the endangered San Salvador iguana. The new San Salvador Iguana Conservation Centre was opened recently at the Gerace Research Centre on San Salvador Island in the southern Bahamas, with assistance from CIBC FirstCaribbean.
The Centre will breed and raise the local iguanas until they are large enough to be safely released in selected areas around the island. At present, only about 500 of these iguanas cling to a precarious existence on tiny offshore cays and small islets in the inland lake.
The project sponsor was Seacology, which recently entered into a partnership with CIBC FirstCaribbean to conduct three environmental projects, of which this is the first to be launched.
Seacology, a non-profit organization based in California, decided to become involved in the project as it falls in line with their mission of saving endangered species, habitats and cultures of islands throughout the world. Already their efforts have resulted in more than 1.6 million acres of critical habitat being preserved around the world.
This is their first project in The Bahamas, but a second in Abaco is already underway. Executive Director Duane Silverstein, who attended the opening says, “It has been said that the sin for which future generations will least forgive us is extinction of species. Seacology is proud to do its part to keep the San Salvador iguana from vanishing from the face of the earth.”
William K. Hayes, Professor of Biology at Loma Linda University, Duane Silverstein, Executive Director, Seacology and Michael Goffee, President of San Salvador Living Jewels.
For CIBC FirstCaribbean, support of this project is “further tangible evidence of our commitment to its communities, a promise made back in 2002 when the Bank was formed,” says Marketing Manager in The Bahamas, Andrea Myers-Tanguay.
The main iguana exhibition and breeding pen is now complete and ready for visitors, along with an information kiosk. Four females and two lucky males are currently residing in the exhibition and breeding pen.
Professor of Biology Dr. William Hayes was, “absolutely amazed at how well adjusted the animals are. They nonchalantly explore their new home, watch us humans with curiosity, and eagerly consume the food provided.” He explains how those animals were chosen for the project, “We selected animals from a single location on Green Cay so that they would be familiar with each other and adjust well socially.
They should thrive in their new home as ambassadors for their kind. The females have ovulated, and if not pregnant already, they soon should become so. The main goal of the program is to raise juvenile iguanas to a size large enough where they can fare well upon release to the wild, thereby supplementing the natural population. We foresee this population increasing substantially in the years to come as the result of this new facility, thereby ensuring their survival for future generations of humans to enjoy.”
Of further interest to funders CIBC FirstCaribbean and Seacology was the partnership the project created between science and local conservation. San Salvador Living Jewels is working with the Bahamas National Trust to submit a proposal for a new National Park focusing protecting iguana and sea bird nesting habitat as well as an extensive tidal creek area, which acts as a nursery for a number of important species.
Lindsey McCoy, Bahamas field representative for Seacology says, “It is the hope of all of us working together on this project that it will lead to the declaration of a much needed new national park on and around San Salvador.”
The two other projects to be undertaken jointly between Seacology and CIBC FirstCaribbean are the protection of the Sea Turtle nesting site in St. Kitts and preserving the critical mangrove forests of Grenada. The agreement between the two organizations runs for a period of three years.
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