About Us

Please come by and visit anytime.

If you are traveling towards the airport on Don McKay Blvd., take a left across from Cost Right (there will be a sign to the office pointing you in the right direction). Instead of following the paved road as it turns left, head straight on the dirt road and go up over a rise.

The FRIENDS Education Center is the second building on the left.

Website Hosted by Computer Creations

Designed and Maintained by Robbie Bethel of www.ilovehopetown.com, www.BlueDoorRentals.com and www.AbacoCottage.com

History of FRIENDS

THE 1980’S

1988 Friends founded in Hope Town, Abaco, Bahamas by a small group of Hope Town residents; namely, Rudy Malone, Suzanne Bethel, Candace Key and Frank Kenyon, who were concerned about the local and visitor practice of taking undersized crawfish.
1989 Friends Charter signed by an eight-member Board of Directors. It states:
The Friends of the Environment has been formed as a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and awareness of the fragility of our environment here on Elbow Cay and the surroundings cays and waters.

THE 1990’S

1990 First six, permanent moorings installed at the Pelican Cays Land & Sea Park.
5,000 Bahamas National Heritage posters printed, several hundred distributed to Bahamas' schools, government departments & environmental groups.
FRIENDS program “The Plight of the Abaco Dolphin” held in Nassau, attended by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Fisheries, Bahamas National Trust & the Bahamas Humane Society.
First Global Earth Day celebration held in Hope Town.

FRIENDS informs the Department of Fisheries of their objection to the signing of permits allowing the capture of dolphins in Bahamas' waters.

Aluminum can recycling begins on Elbow Cay.
1991 – Educational environmental programs brought to schools and communities in Marsh Harbour, Man-O-War and Hope Town.
1992 A Pelican Cays Land & Sea Park Information Officer hired by FRIENDS & the BNT.
The Bahamas Government becomes a signatory of the Marpol Agreement, making it illegal for any ship to discharge trash in Bahamas' waters.
Clean Islands, International joins FRIENDS in a 3-day island beach cleanup commemorating UN Day & Worldwide Shoreline Clean-up. Plastic trash from five different cruise lines & five foreign countries is documented. Student letters hand delivered at a Florida Cruise Convention.
1993 – Abaco schoolchildren attend the UN Global Youth Forum in Colorado, USA.
1994 – 2,200 acre Abaco National Park established to protect the Bahamas Parrot nesting areas.
Four Junior FRIENDS’ members attend the United Nations Global Youth Forum in Washington, DC. 2,000 participants from 30 countries share solutions on global environmental problems.
1996 – Bahamas Government bans export of tropical fish following Hope Town Schoolchildren’s letter writing campaign.

First Bahamas Children’s Environmental Summit held in Nassau.

1997 Abaco Regional Youth Forum on the Environment held in Hope Town.
Fourth Annual Earth Day Beach Clean up.
Students attend the Caribbean Recycling Conference in Trinidad.
Candace Key receives 1997 Environmental Educator of the Year Award from Clean Islands, International.
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham oversees passage of the Bahamas Environmental Act to protect wetlands & coastlines.
1998 FRIENDS prints & distributes “Facts From Fisheries” outlining Bahamas fishing regulations. Hope Town All-Age schoolchildren attend Caribbean Recycling Conference in Scotland.
1999 Hurricane Floyd devastates the Abacos. Elbow Cay Restoration Committee refurbishes the dunes & replants 200,000 sea oats.

THE 2000’S

2000 FRIENDS’ Board Members participate in the Bahamas Parks Partnership program to develop a management plan for the Abaco National Park.
Aluminum can recycling begins in Marsh Harbour.
Fifteen whales are killed in a mass Beaked Whale stranding on Great Abaco, believed to be due to U.S. Navy sonar testing in the Northeast Providence Channel.

2001 U.S. Navy apologizes for the Bahamas Beaked Whale stranding with assurances that that no further sonar training will be conducted in the area.
Moorings now total 15 at the Sandy Cay Land & Sea Park, 19 at Fowl Cay Park & 5 at Mermaid Reef.
First Reef Ball is held the Great Abaco Beach Hotel Pavilion.
FRIENDS’ Abaco-wide, community workshop attracts over 100 Abaconians and winter residents.

2002 Local students & teachers attend the Children’s Environmental Summit in Nassau.
Local businesses and FRIENDS' members donate upwards of $40,000 for installation of 34 new moorings in Abaco underwater parks.
Two Board Members attend Nassau’s Caribbean Regional Environmental program.

2003 Board Members hold Restructure Meeting. Agenda highlights: establish a Marsh Harbour office in conjunction with the Abaco Chamber of Commerce, hire a secretary, include members from outside Elbow Cay, develop community structure to encourage active participants from the outer cays.
FRIENDS becomes A Partner in Progress with The Nature Conservancy; one of the world's leading environmental organizations. Bahamas Marine Mammal Survey launches the Abaco Adopt-A-Dolphin program.
Bahamas’ Parrot study experts plan two-year population assessment.
FRIENDS oversees native plantings at Marsh Harbour’s new port facility.
Representatives attend The Nature Conservancy’s Global Leadership Summit in Costa Rica.
Oil recycling begins on Elbow Cay.
The first Abaco Science Alliance Conference (ASAC) is held with 90 attendees from Abaco, Nassau, the United States & Canada. The Department of Agriculture & FRIENDS host the first Fire Burn project with 31 trainees attending.
Board Members join in the Bahamas National Trust Parks’ Partnership Program to develop management planning for the Abaco National Park.
First Native Plant Fair held at FRIENDS’ office.

2004 Caribbean Natural Resources Institute awards FRIENDS a grant for the establishment of a data repository & library for Abaco’s natural & cultural history.

2005 Lindsey Delaplaine becomes first Executive Director.
FRIENDS’ website renewed by Kent LeBoutillier.
46 moorings now in place on Abaco’s popular reefs: Mermaid, Fowl, Sandy & North Guana Cays.

2006 U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas gives keynote speech at the 2nd Abaco Science Alliance Conference.
FRIENDS receives two year grant from the MacTaggart Fund to start Education Program.
Olivia Patterson hired as Program Coordinator.
FRIENDS participates in the Bahamas Sea Turtle Conservation Strategy Workshop in Nassau.
47 framed Bahamas Natural Heritage posters & 17 sets of conch & grouper posters go to Abaco schools.
Perry Institute & Bahamas Biocomplexity Project conduct research on marine habitats between Fowl Cay & Bight of Old Robinson.
Dr. Craig Layman spearheads Cross Harbour Creek restoration & Adopt a Fish, Adopt a School fish tagging project.
Draft work begins on Fowl Cay Park proposal; community meetings held.
First artificial reef balls built by Abaco students and installed on Mermaid Reef.

2007 D’Shan Maycock hired as FRIENDS Education Officer.
First FRIENDS’ Board Member & Staff Retreat held at the Bluff House on Green Turtle Cay.
Reef Ball Program continued at Mermaid's Reef.
School field trips implemented for students to learn hands on about the environment.
FRIENDS moves into the new Education Center in Marsh Harbour.
Summer Education Camp for elementary and high school kids offered throughout Abaco.
Nan Kenyon leaves FRIENDS after 20 years of service and

Michael Albury resigns as President of FRIENDS

2008 Jim Richard becomes President of Friends of the Environment
Kristin Williams hired as FRIENDS’ new Executive Director.
3rd Abaco Science Alliance held

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