Mangroves
Photo credit: Enie Hensel
Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees that also make up one of The Bahamas' most important marine ecosystems. The Bahamas is home to three species of mangrove: red, black, and white mangroves, and a mangrove associate: buttonwood. Mangroves deserve our protection as they provide many ecosystem services including shoreline protection, carbon sequestration, and functioning as nursery habitat for marine life!
Bahamas Awareness of Mangroves (BAM)
BAM is a partner program with the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation that offers a progressive curriculum for senior high students where they build on knowledge and skills learned over a 2.5 year period.
Through project-based learning students will gain an understanding of mangroves, their importance to the coastal marine ecosystem in the region, and their value to Bahamian society. The BAM program is currently working to develop virtual resources. In the meantime if you would like assistance with a specific topic, please reach out.
Learn more about the Mangrove Detectives Program!
This series of videos includes a helpful introduction to mangrove ecosystems, and further activities that are part of the Mangrove Detectives program. If you are interested in becoming a Mangrove Detective and helping to collect data about the health of our mangroves, please contact us!
Marine Protected Areas in Abaco that encompass mangroves:
Cross Harbour National Park, East Abaco Creeks National Park, Black Sound Cay Marine Reserve
Follow this lesson guide on Bahamian mangroves that covers the location, leaves, roots, bark and more on each type of mangrove found in The Bahamas. Pictures included!
Video showing how Mangroves protect the coastline
This is an example of how mangrove ecosystems protect our coastline. We use this in many of our presentations so that students can get a visual of the importance of mangroves to protect our coastline. FRIENDS does not own the rights to this video.
This activity teaches students about camouflage in a mangrove ecosystem. How many animals can you discover hidden within the mangroves?
Mangrove Scavenger Hunt (primary school)
A fun activity to do in the field with your students. Visit a local mangrove ecosystem and print these sheets to take with you! This gives students a change to explore the ecosystem on their own and discover animals that live within it.
Mangrove Scavenger Hunt (high school)
A fun activity to do in the field with your students. Visit a local mangrove ecosystem and print these sheets to take with you! This gives students a change to explore the ecosystem on their own and discover animals that live within it.
This poster explains mangrove connectivity to different ecosystems, as well as highlights species found in the mangrove ecosystem, and good habits that we can practice to save mangroves.
watch this
Buzz words
Marine Protected Area
Ecosystem Services
Carbon Sequestration
Keystone Species
Sustainability
Eco-tourism
Connectivity
